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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554969">Love like Ours</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KodiakSage/pseuds/KodiakSage'>KodiakSage</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bolin is adorkable, Drama &amp; Romance, Enthusiastic Consent, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Oral Sex, Pro-Bending, Semi-Public Sex, Sex, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, Smut, Truth or Dare, how many places can they have sex in one fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:48:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>53,143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554969</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KodiakSage/pseuds/KodiakSage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bolin meets Asami's old school friend Kira at the beach and some sand bending and a sprained ankle leads to a date. A date leads to kissing on doorsteps and kissing leads to...more. Things are simple at first, but problems are bound to pop up...like annoying airbender kids, candid sex talks, and interfering mothers who have ideas about arranged marriages. Takes place loosely after season 2 and before Season 3 but includes a few spoilers from later seasons. [COMPLETE]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bolin (Avatar) &amp; Original Female Character(s), Korra/Asami Sato</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Beach</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I started this after season 2 but before I watched season 3, but it's not meant to be very canon.  I just decided that poor Bolin needed a real girlfriend, and so I made one up for him! I threw in some Korra/Asami cuteness (not explicit, just a side) because I ship it yo and after watching the rest of the series I ended up adding some season 3 and 4 too, though the story is generally in the nebulous time between seasons 2 and 3.  It started as a one-shot and morphed into a all-consuming 50k+ story because it was just too fun to stop writing. </p><p>Also, I do not have a beta reader and I have not read the comics, so please forgive any mistakes. It's just me writing and editing for fun in my free time. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>The summer sun was warm and bright on the shore of the public beach just outside Republic City proper. Beachgoers from all over the city were scattered across the sand enjoying the day, their colorful towels and umbrellas dotting the breach like scattered confetti on the bright sand.</p><p>Kira sat under her umbrella, with her hat on, her cover-up on, and sunscreen smeared all over the bits of remaining uncovered skin. Her skin was fair, and she didn't often go out into the sun. Most of her time was spent at the Republic City University where she had recently enrolled, or in her apartment studying. She had moved here from the Fire Nation to attend school and quickly reconnected with her her old friend Asami. Their mothers had been friends and they had often spent time together when they were younger, when they both attended a prestigious boarding school. Now that Kira was living in Republic City, Asami had introduced her to her friends Bolin, Mako, and of course Korra. It was nice to know some people and have things to do other than study all day. She missed her family and her house back in the Fire Nation, but Asami was doing everything she could to help Kira adjust.</p><p>Asami, laying on a towel beside Kira, was stretched out in a very revealing, very flattering swimsuit with high-cut bottoms and a low-cut top. Her glamorous dark hair fell in perfect waves around her shoulders. The two girls sighed as they watched Korra, Mako, and Bolin splash around in the shallow waves, dodging each other's good-natured bending pranks.</p><p>Bolin had built himself a platform jutting out of the waves, but Korra was bending little cyclones of water up at him. Behind her, Mako dumped a bucketful of sand on her head—but not before she pulverized Bolin's platform and sent him tumbling into the waves. He came up spluttering, his hair plastered to his head and in his eyes. “I'm okay!” he shouted.</p><p>Kira laughed, probably a little too much, because Asami immediately honed in on her. “You like him.” She said, a note of surprise in her voice. “I didn't see it before, but now, well!”</p><p>“I...” Kira was about to deny it, her face flushing but blessedly hidden by all the sun protection. “I do like him. I mean, what's not to like?”</p><p>“I dated Mako you know, he can be a bit much sometimes. Not a great communicator, not much into his feelings either.”</p><p>“Mako?”</p><p>“Yeah, weren't you just looking at him?”</p><p>“No! I mean, he's nice. But Bolin...” Her eyes shone with that glassy far-away look that only someone in the first throes of love sickness tends to get.</p><p>“Bolin!?” Asami asked. She blinked and peered out at the group. Bolin was running back and forth across the sand yelping as Mako flicked little bolts of electricity at his younger brother and Korra sent blobs of water to crash over his head.</p><p>“Yes Bolin! He's so fun, and so funny. And comforting. And...those shoulders...” She sighed and beamed out at the subject of their conversation, who was retaliating by bending sand down <em>into </em> his friends swim bottoms, much to their yelps of protest.</p><p>Asami blinked, trying to see what Kira saw, but not quite getting there on the same wavelength. “He is very earnest. I think you'd never have to worry about him lying to you. He has a good heart.”</p><p>“I know,” Kira said with a smile. “But I don't think he'll ever notice me. Not like...in a romantic way. He's kind to everyone. I just don't think I'm his type.” She looked sideways at Asami's ample cleavage, practically overflowing from her swim top. There was a little envy, of course, for everywhere Asami was curvy and feminine, Kira was wiry and petite. Of course, it didn't help that everything she did have was hidden from the burning sun...and the object of her attentions.</p><p>“Oh Kira, you're perfectly lovely inside and out.” Asami said. “I'm sure Bolin will see that.”</p><p>The three benders came trudging tiredly towards the umbrellas, Mako and Korra waddling with discomfort from the sand that was still sagging the bottoms of their swimsuits. Bolin, in contrast, practically strutted, his smile a blinding white, his eyes a hot summer green.</p><p>“So Bolin is the victor then?” Asami asked. She pulled Korra down to lay beside her on her towel.</p><p>Mako grimaced. “He fights dirty. Literally.”</p><p>“Life's a beach, brother.” Bolin gloated. “But I guess sorry about that last bit. If the chaffing is too bad, I bet Korra would take a look at it.”</p><p>Korra kicked some sand at him half-heartedly. “Then who's going to heal <em>my</em> chaffing? There's sand in places nothing is ever supposed to go!”</p><p>“Ack! No more, no more. I don't want to hear anything else about these mysterious sandy places please!” Bolin said.</p><p>“Asami, Kira, are you going to get in the water?” Korra asked. “It's not too cold.</p><p>“Not cold? I guess not compared to the South Pole,” Mako said.</p><p>“You should go,” Asami nudged Kira. “Go in the water with Bolin, since he's the only non-injured party. I'll keep the losers company.”</p><p>Kira glanced at Asami with a start, then up at Bolin's wide smile.</p><p>“And leave your hat and wrap, they'll just get wet or blow away.” Asami said. There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye.</p><p>“I suppose,” Kira said with a sigh. She could feel her face flushing as she set aside her hat and pulled the light fabric poncho over her head. Underneath she was as pale as Asami, but much slighter. Her swimsuit wasn't particularly revealing, but it was still skin-tight, baring her thighs, and midriff, and what little cleavage she did have.</p><p>“Come on! I promise not to put sand down your pants,” Bolin said. Kira gave Asami a grateful smile and followed Bolin to the edge of the water.</p><p>It <em>was</em> cold, truly, but not in an unpleasant way. Kira's toes dug into the sand and she felt herself smiling, spirits lifting in spite of herself. There was something childishly fun about playing in the water. They waded in until the water was up to her chest, the gentle waves bobbing her up onto her tippy-toes and then back down. Bolin, taller and a more confident swimmer was already a bit deeper. Kira started to go after him, when a much larger wave forced her under. She came up spluttering, but Bolin was right there, his hand on the crook of her elbow, helping her up. She flushed slightly at the contact, and with embarrassment at having gone under, her hair all mussed and plastered to her face.</p><p>“Gotcha!” Bolin said. “You okay?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Kira had mostly recovered. “Thanks.” She slid her arm down to hold his hand, jumping as another wave threatened to swamp them. “I'm not a great swimmer, as you can tell.”</p><p>“Pro benders are required to pass a swimming test, for when we get knocked off the platform y'know. C'mon, we can go back towards the shore.” He gripped her hand firmly and began helping to pull her back to shore.</p><p>When they were in knee-deep water, Kira reluctantly let go of his hand, and even as she did so, she tripped over something in the water and fell face-first into the surf.</p><p>“Kira!” Bolin helped her up and put her arm over his shoulder. “What happened?”</p><p>“There was something under the water—like a big rock...” Her nose was full of stinging salt water, and she had bit her lip hard. She coughed and spluttered.</p><p>“Oh....no. That's what's left of my safety platform I made when I was trying to escape from Korra and Mako! I'm sorry, this is totally my fault!”</p><p>Kira shook her head and started to move back towards shore, but she squeaked and nearly fell again when she put her full weight on her ankle. “I think I sprained something...” she muttered.</p><p>“Can I help?” Bolin asked, his thick brows were puckered in worry, and his eyes were wide.</p><p>“Yes please,” Kira said miserably. Her embarrassment was already acute, and it could't get much worse, or so she thought, until Bolin bent down, put one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, and picked her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and yelped in surprise. He didn't grunt or strain at all, it was as if she didn't weigh anything. He looked down at her and they locked eyes for a moment, his like the ocean under a bright sun and hers like pools of molten rock, and they both flushed a little. Her breasts were bunched up and pressed against his chest, and her fingers were twined behind his neck intimately. She could feel his breath on her face, see how the water had mussed his hair, how he had the beginnings of stubble on his chin. Kira looked away, suddenly remembering how she must look with her cut lip and sea-tangled hair.</p><p>The moment was over. Bolin cleared his throat and then walked with careful measured steps through the shallow water and towards the sand. As they approached, they discovered that the umbrella was still there, but their friends were not.</p><p>“Those sore losers went and left us!” Bolin said indignantly, even as he settled Kira back on her towel gently. Her heart drooped a little bit when he let go of her, wishing that he had a reason to hold her just a little longer. She thought that perhaps Asami had chivvied them all away on some errand or walk to give Kira and Bolin a little privacy, but she didn't say that. Instead, she stretched out her ankle and tried to bend it, but winced at the pain. It was already starting to swell and turn red.</p><p>“That looks bad, but Korra can take care of it whenever she gets back.” He settled down beside her on the sand, his face glum. “Sorry again.”</p><p>“I'll be okay as long as I don't try to walk on it, I think,” she sighed. “And don't be sorry. I got a first class ride back to my towel, noble steed.”</p><p>Bolin smiled. “Your own personal badgermole!” he quipped with a smile but it didn't reach his eyes. He put a hand out to cover hers. “But really, I promise I'll make it up to you.”<br/><br/>“How about with a date? Somewhere I can, you know, wear a nice dress and not look like a literal satomobile wreck.”</p><p>“You don't look a wreck!” Bolin countered, but then quirked a smile. “I mean, the blood isn't a look I'd pick for you, but you're really,” (Kira caught his eyes involuntary flicker over her body) “beautiful Kira.”</p><p>“You too.” Kira murmured with a slight flush, and then slapped her hand to her head. “I mean handsome. That's what I totally meant. The muscles confused me.”</p><p>“What these old things?” Bolin struck a pose in the sand and twitched his pecs one at a time at her. Kira burst out laughing.</p><p>“Stunning! Manly! Glorious! Magnificent!” Kira shouted compliments at him until they were both helpless with laughter in the sand under the umbrella.</p><p>When they caught their breath, Kira reached out and her hand over his. “I think you're the only person who could make a sprained ankle this much fun. Thank you.”</p><p>“I promise I can have fun without injuries too,” Bolin said. “Want me to go look for Korra? She can heal your ankle so that I don't have to carry you all way back to the apartment.”</p><p>“Not that I'd particularly <em>mind</em> you carrying me...but yes. It would be nice to be rid of this pain and swelling.” Bolin smiled and jumped to his feet, then hurried off up the beach to find their friends. He returned a few moments later with Asami, Korra, Mako, and a lemon ice pop for her.</p><p>“Oh man, sorry we were gone so long. Mako got mad and melted his ice pop so we had to get back in line and wait all over again,” Korra said, but Asami only winked. “Let me look at that ankle for you Kira.”<br/><br/>“It's okay, really,” Kira said. She smiled at Asami, which drew a suspicious gaze from Mako.</p><p>Korra meanwhile did her water bending healer thing, and in a moment, Kira's ankle was as good as new.</p><p>They gathered up their stuff and headed back to Asami's car, and as the boys loaded up the umbrellas in the back, Asami sidled up close to Kira. “So?” She whispered to her friend, “How did it go besides the sprained ankle?”</p><p>“We're going on a date!” Kira whispered back, unable to contain her smile. “He <em>carried</em> me back to shore after I got hurt. It was so worth it,”</p><p>“I'm glad! I even made Mako mad on purpose to give you both more time,” Asami said. Kira slipped an arm around the taller girl and hugged her briefly.</p><p>“Thank you Asami. I wouldn't have made a move unless you had encouraged me.”</p><p>“Anything for love,” Asami whispered in her ear.</p><p>“Excuse me?” Korra's chilly voice interrupted them, but Asami only rolled her eyes and took Korra's hands.</p><p>“I helped Kira score a date with Bolin,” Asami explained patiently. “Don't be jealous.”</p><p>Korra sighed. “Sorry. And congrats. Bolin is a lot of fun. We went on a date once.”</p><p>“I'm glad it didn't work out,” Kira said truthfully, smiling.</p><p>“Me too,” Asami added with a smirk.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heeey, for those of you wondering where Pabu is...I left out Pabu at first on accident because he isn't particularly sexy and wasn't on my mind, but then on purpose because it was too late to rewrite everything to add him back in. He doesn't make an appearance in this story, sorry Pabu lovers!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Doorsteps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>The date had been splendid. They had dinner, and walked around the city, and played games at the arcade, and watched street performers in the square, and now they were back at the door to Kira's apartment, holding hands, feeling drunk on that first infatuation feeling. There was a bag of stuffed badgermoles at her feet that Bolin had won in the Earthbending game, prizes from an evening well spent.</p><p>“So this is goodnight,” Bolin said, awkward for the first time. “Goodnight!” He turned to go, but Kira pulled him back towards her, laughing.</p><p>“You don't have to go just yet. You won me all these prizes but what I really want is...a kiss.” She dropped his hand and put hers behind her back.</p><p>“Oh! Oh. Last time I tried to kiss a girl at the end of a date it didn't go well. I didn't want to assume...”<br/><br/>Kira raised her eyebrows at him, then frowned. “I mean, I don't want to force you or anything. If you're uncomfortable, if I misread your intentions...”</p><p>“Nononono!” Bolin sidled up to her and met her eyes, his like summer leaves and hers like a setting sun. “I do want to kiss you. Very much. If you want me to, that is.”</p><p>“I do. Very much.” Kira closed her eyes and leaned forward slightly and then felt Bolin slip his hand around her waist. His breath touched her face, and then his lips were on hers. Soft, warm, steady. She put her own arms around his broad shoulders, not wanting to pull back, not wanting it to end. It was like an electric shock and a stomach-dropping fall all at once, until his lips parted slightly and she could taste him—and the the heat rushed from her face downwards like a blazing ember in her groin, and she clutched at his shirt slightly. His mouth moved to her jaw, her ear, her collarbone, kissing and breathing softly into the crook of her neck, his teeth lightly raking the sensitive skin, the barest trace of stubble chaffing her. She moved back in for another kiss, this time deeper, her tongue venturing forth to lick and taste and mingle. His hips were against her, their arms clutching one another, until someone coughed loudly nearby and broke the spell.</p><p>“Oh,” Kira breathed too quickly, looking around and realizing that they had been literally necking on the front step to her apartment building. Her heart was pounding, and all she wanted to do was kiss Bolin again.</p><p>“Wow,” Bolin said. “That was a first for me. I...”</p><p>Kira stopped him with another kiss, slow and gentle and sensuous. “Do you want to come up?”</p><p>“Up up?” Bolin asked with a gulp. “Like, to your apartment up?”</p><p>“Is that too quick? I'm sorry. I must seem very forward. It's our first date and I'm inviting you up. I just...I just really like you Bolin. I don't want tonight to end.”</p><p>“We can go out again tomorrow if you're free,” he offered. “I don't think we should go up tonight. I'm...not really experienced with this sort of thing.”</p><p>“Honestly I'm not either,” Kira admitted. “I've been on dates, I've kissed other guys...but I've never felt like <em>that</em> before. Besides which, you're much kinder and way more fun than anyone I dated before.”</p><p>“So, tomorrow?”</p><p>“Tomorrow,” Kira agreed. She gave him a final kiss, a chaste peck on the cheek, and then left him there, on the doorstep and went up to her apartment. Bolin sagged to the floor in a happy puddle. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>“Mako!” Bolin shouted down his brother as soon as he entered their apartment. “I need your help! Tell me everything you know about sex!” He rounded the corner to find not just Mako, but Chief Beifong, Tenzin, Korra, and Asami all sitting at the table drinking tea together.</p><p>“Ooooooh that conversation can definitely wait until later,” Bolin amended awkwardly. “I didn't know everyone was here!”</p><p>“We were just leaving,” Korra said, standing up. “And a good thing, since it seems you and Mako have something to discuss.” She didn't quite manage to hide her chortle of laughter behind her hand. Tenzin only shook his head and sighed, and Chief Beifong well...her expression <em>always</em> looked disapproving and angry. Asami merely smiled. And if Mako was a dagger-bender instead of a firebender, well, Bolin would have a dagger sticking out of his chest. The guests all stood and began shuffling towards the door.</p><p>“I guess things are going well with Kira?” Asami asked quietly as she passed.<br/>“You could say that,” Bolin said, his cheeks reddening.</p><p>She put a hand on his shoulder. “Just ask her what she wants and tell her what you want. That's all you <em>really</em> need to know about the subject.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Bolin whispered.</p><p>When their friends had cleared out, Mako turned to Bolin and rubbed his fingers across his eyebrows, a sure sign that he had a headache coming on. “Now Bolin, what the hell is going on?”</p><p>“I'm sorry, I was just excited. And you're my big brother, and I wasn't sure who else to ask and...I didn't know you had people here!”</p><p>“No, it's fine. You're right. Sit down.”</p><p>Bolin breathed out a long sigh of relief and sat while Mako reheated the tea with a little burst of firebending and poured them each a cup.</p><p>“First things first. How far did you get?”</p><p>“How far? We got to her doorstep.”</p><p>“Nonono. I mean, how far like, kissing?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Clothes on or off?”</p><p>“On.”</p><p>“Hands....?”</p><p>“On her hips.”</p><p>Mako narrowed his eyes. “Bolin, you're not even close to sex. That's just making out. I know you've made out with girls before.”</p><p>“Yeah....but she asked me to come up. To her apartment. Up up.”</p><p>Mako's eyes widened. “Aahhh. Oh. Okay. That doesn't <em>necessarily</em> mean sex.”</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Bolin pulled a notebook out of his pocket and started writing.</p><p>“Put that away! This isn't the kind of thing you can take notes on!”</p><p>“Okay fine!” Bolin put the notebook away and rested his chin on the table. “I'm just nervous.”</p><p>“That's okay. That's normal.” Mako said. “It sounds like things are going good. You went on a date, she invited you up. That means she really likes you.”</p><p>“Yeah. And I like her. And I don't want to mess it up.”</p><p>Mako nodded, his arms crossed, a pensive look on his face. “How did you say no?”</p><p>“Um....I said I didn't think I should and that I wasn't very experienced with this sort of thing.”</p><p>“Yeah, that sounds good. You were honest. Girls like that.”</p><p>“And we're going on another date tomorrow.”</p><p>Mako smiled. “Even better! She still wants to see you after you rejected her.”</p><p>“Rejected??”</p><p>“Well, that's a harsh way of saying it. I mean, you declined.”</p><p>“Okay. Yeah. But what do I do if she invites me up again?”</p><p>Mako shrugged. “Be honest. If don't want to go up, just say you're not ready. But like I said, up doesn't always mean sex. Sometimes it's just dessert, or making out, or like, hugging and stuff. Talking about feelings. Girls like to talk about feelings.”</p><p>“Okay. I can do that.” Bolin sat back in his chair and drank some tea. He and Mako sat in silence for a few minutes.</p><p>“But when it comes to the sex part? What do I do?”</p><p>Mako scrunched up his face. “Do you...know how it works?” It was obvious that Mako did not want to have The Talk with his brother.</p><p>“I have theories. I mean, I've seen some magazines and stuff. I've even seen a sheep pig and a cow pig you know, doing the thing.”</p><p>Mako slapped his head. “Okay. We're having The Talk. Gosh, I wish dad was here. Or maybe I should have made Tenzin stay.”</p><p>“I don't want to talk about sex with Tenzin!” Bolin said in a panic.</p><p>“Well I don't want to talk about sex with my little brother!” Mako said.</p><p>Bolin's face fell. He stared at Mako for a second, his mouth open, his eyes like two wounds. He got up and ran to his room, slamming the door behind him.</p><p>“Bolin!” Mako said. “Bolin I'm sorry.” Mako slung himself over to Bolin's door and knocked. “I'm sorry. It's not easy being the big brother all the time. I don't <em>not</em> want to talk to you about it. I just...I wish Dad were alive. Or Mom.” He paused, a thousand possibilities rushing through his mind like wisps of memories he'd forgotten long ago. “I wish things were different.”</p><p>Bolin opened the door, his face streaked with tears. He snuffled up a long string of snot. “I've always...relied on you Mako. I know it's a lot to ask. I'm sorry.”</p><p>“Don't be sorry,” Mako said. He put a shoulder around Bolin for a grudging hug, and didn't protest when Bolin wrapped him in his arms in a great Bolin-bear hug. There might have even been a tear in Mako's eye.</p><p>When Bolin finally put his brother down, their eyes were both red.</p><p>“I'll go to Air Temple Island tomorrow and talk to Tenzin.” Bolin said dejectedly.</p><p>“No. Tomorrow we'll have the talk. I'll put on a blindfold and just tell you everything I know about everything to do with sex, and you can just listen and not ask questions and be informed.”</p><p>They looked at each other. “Or you can go to Air Temple Island.”</p><p>“Yeah. I'll talk to Tenzin.”</p><p>“And if I have questions after?”</p><p>“You can ask me.”</p><p>“Thanks bro.” Bolin's eyes brimmed up with tears again, but Mako just ruffled his brother's hair and pushed him away.</p><p>“Goodnight Bolin. You have a busy day ahead of you.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>Tenzin closed his eyes and sighed as soon as he saw Bolin in the doorway to his study.</p><p>“Did Mako send you?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeeeeah. I just. I don't have a dad and I thought...he thought...you might have a book or a more reliable source than what Shady Shin told me one time.”</p><p>“Sit down Bolin.” Tenzin gestured firmly to the chair opposite the wide wooden desk, then used a firm airbending trick to close the door to the study. Bolin sat.</p><p>“Shady Shin...I'll just use this as practice for when it's Meelo's turn,” Tenzin muttered, rubbing his eyebrows much like how Mako had last night, as if the very earliest twinge of a headache was beginning. With another sigh, Tenzin steepled his fingers and looked directly at Mako.</p><p>“First I want you to know that during sexual intercourse, the spirits of two people are permanently intermingled. Do not embark upon this path unless you are certain you wish to leave a piece of your spirit with this person. Second, the consequences of sexual intercourse, besides spiritual, may be physical. The most ancient and holy consequence of sex is babies.”</p><p>“Um.” Bolin just blinked. “Always? Every time? Cause I thought...well, Shady Shin said...”</p><p>“No not always, but often enough that you should take this very seriously. There are physical and spiritual methods that may use in order to prevent pregnancy, but no method is 100% foolproof, and young people are inherently foolish when it comes to sexual intercourse.”</p><p>“Ah. Ok.” Bolin nodded along, pretending that he had an inkling of what Tenzin was talking about.</p><p>“Third are the mechanics. Men are endowed with, as I'm sure you've noticed, an organ used primarily for sexual intercourse. During arousal, this organ is filled with blood and becomes...rigid. Women's bodies contain a reciprocating space into which the man's organ is inserted until the Man has a spiritual experience and releases his seed. Do you understand?”</p><p>“Reciprocating...organ...um...no?” Bolin grimaced. “I'm trying to understand!”</p><p>Tenzin closed his eyes, shook his head, and went to the door. “PEMA!” he called. A few moments later, Tenzin's good-natured wife appeared, a toddler on her hip. Tenzin whispered into her ear and she burst into laughter, much to Tenzin's apparent chagrin. She whispered something back for a long time and then walked away.</p><p>Tenzin returned to his desk. “Okay. Let's begin again,” he said. “Once you've gotten through the kissing part, you'll want to start taking off your clothes and touching one another. The important thing is to <em>listen </em>and to <em>respect</em> one another. Only do what you are both comfortable with. Take things slow and don't be embarrassed if things don't go how you think they should. First times are almost always awkward, it's normal. You'll figure out what feels good by...trying things out. You'll get to know each other's bodies the same way that you got to know each other's personalities—by spending time getting to know each other. Does that help?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Bolin said, brightening. “I mean, I'm still not sure what goes where or how it <em>works</em>. I feel like that's kinda...ya know...important.”</p><p>Tenzin sighed. “I'll be right back.” He left for a few moments, and returned with two book. The first was heavy and bound with thick leather. The other was thin and had a bright pink cover. “This.” Tenzin said, gesturing to the thicker book, “is a textbook about anatomy. It has diagrams and explanations of the the human body, male and female. The chapter you want is number 7 and begins on page 215.” He pushed the book towards Bolin. “The other book,” he picked up the floppy one with a pink cover, “Is a romance novel. Women love them. It will walk you through the...erm...emotional side of things, with a very detailed physical example on pages 70, 84, and 114.” He handed it to Bolin.</p><p>“Those, along with what I've told you, will prepare you at least as well as you can be for someone with no experience.</p><p>“Oh. Thank you Tenzin. This has been very enlightening,” Bolin said earnestly.</p><p>“Enlightenment...” Tenzin snorted something that might have been a laugh. “That's my job.” He shook his head. “Just be glad you're not getting my brother Bumi's version of The Talk. Spirits, he'd probably just bring you to a---ahem. Anyway. Please return these books after you've had a chance to read them...'Li and the Water Lilly of Enchanted Lake' is one of my...er...Pema's favorites.”</p><p>Bolin stood and gathered up the books. “Yes sir, thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>It only took a few hours for Bolin to read the textbook, after which he felt <em>much</em> more confident about the actual anatomical workings of sex. He was fascinated by the anatomical sketch of a woman. He never realized how <em>complicated</em> things could be down there! When Mako got home from work, Bolin showed him the book. “Did you know that women have <em>three</em> holes in them down there?” he asked.</p><p>“What? No way.” Mako rolled his eyes and looked over Bolin's shoulder at the book. “Oh my god where did you get this!?”</p><p>“Tenzin gave it to me! It's a textbook!” Bolin said, his voice a little higher pitched than necessary. Mako's eyes flickered over to the romance book.</p><p>“And this one? Did Tenzin give you 'Li and the Water Lilly of Enchanted Lake?”</p><p>“Actually, yes!” Bolin said. “But I haven't read it yet. He said it will help give me a woman's perspective.”</p><p>“So it was talking to him helpful?”</p><p>“Very! Well, not at first. He was talking about organs and reciprocal something or other...You should read these books though! They're very informative!”</p><p>“Yeah. Maybe.” Mako shrugged and pulled off his dirty uniform shirt.</p><p>“Mako, can I ask you something?” Bolin asked quietly.</p><p>“Sure What's up?”</p><p>“Have you actually, you know, done it?”</p><p>Mako was quiet for a few minutes, and he frowned at Bolin before answering. “Yeah. Back in the Triad.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“It was...probably foolish. Akele was bad news. Not worth it for my first time. She was a lot older than me, so it wasn't very awkward, but...she was a lot older than me. I was dumb.” He shook his head. “I never did with Korra or Asami, thank goodness. That would have been really strange.”</p><p>“Wow. I never knew.” Bolin said.</p><p>“Yeah well, it's in the past.” He shrugged and went to his room, leaving Bolin to his books.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Her Apartment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the fourth date, they went up to Kira's apartment. The kissing on the doorstep had won them a few catcalls from people walking by, and when Kira asked, this time, her teeth nibbling on Bolin's ear, he groaned softly and whispered, “Yes.”</p><p>Her apartment was small and her roommate Hitori was at work, but Kira rushed her through to her room without much preamble, flicked the little lamp on, and pulled him towards her bed. They picked up where they had left off, but this time there was a tenseness in the air, a widening of the possible courses the evening could take, a freedom and a risk to being totally alone together, with no one telling them to stop.</p><p>Kira's mouth was hot on his neck when she swung her leg over his lap and climbed on, the better to reach his ear, to run her hands over the back of his shirt, to press her breasts against him. Bolin's fingers lingered at her waist. He was straining against the feel of her warm groin against his. Every time she shifted her weight against his erection he suffered a stab of blissful agony.</p><p>“Bolin?” Kira asked breathlessly. “Can we...take our shirts off?” Her face was pink.</p><p>“Yeah, of course,” Bolin said. He unbuttoned his collar and peeled his shirt over his head, then his undershirt quickly after, revealing his broad, muscular chest. Kira sighed in admiration, the buttons of her shirt taking her a few moments longer. When she finally stripped it off, Bolin could see her lacy brassiere, covering not much less than a swim top, until, to his astonishment, she reached behind her, unclasped the bra, and let it slide down her arms, revealing two small pale breasts with pale pink nipples perfectly centered, hard nubs in the cool air. The anatomy textbook didn't do the female body justice at all, it was so flawlessly soft and perfect. Bolin gasped, his eyes drawn to her chest like magnets.</p><p>“I know I don't have much...” Kira said with a sigh, but before she could qualify her beauty any more, Bolin kissed her. The sensation of her naked breasts agains the skin of his chest was...intoxicating. She moaned and moved Bolin's hand from it's habitual place on her hip to cradle the soft flesh. “It feels nice when you touch there,” she murmured, so Bolin touched her there. The calloused pad of his thumb felt her nipple, causing her to shiver and groan. “Can I...kiss you there?” Bolin asked softly.</p><p>“Yes, please,” Kira moaned, her eyes closed, her back arched, her hips grinding against his. Bolin could hardly believe it was happening, until he put his mouth to her nipple and brushed it gently with his lips. Kira gasped in his ear. When he dragged his tongue across it she shuddered, and when he began to suck on it, her legs clutched around his waist. She was grinding against him in earnest now, and Bolin felt himself getting to the edge of what he could stand without making a mess in his pants. He thought maybe he should stop before they got carried away, but then Kira's hand went down to his lap, her fingers feeling out along the bulge of his erection through the fabric, and it was too late. He buried his face in her neck and hissed out a long, involuntary moan as he came, a wet spot spreading out in his pants.</p><p>“Sorry, I just...” Bolin's face was red. “I'm new at this.” <br/><br/>“That's okay,” Kira said. Her face was flushed, and her hand was still lingering on his lap. “I can get you a towel to clean up,” She climbed off of him and went to her closet, pulling out a clean washcloth. She offered it to him and sat down next to him on the edge of the bed, her breasts still out and bare. Bolin could hardly take his eyes off of them, even as he furtively unzipped and began mopping up the mess inside his underwear. Most of it was on his leg, and the wetness hadn't soaked through to his pants yet, fortunately. It would be an awkward walk home otherwise.</p><p>“Thanks, and sorry, and...that was incredible.” Bolin said.</p><p>“You don't have to apologize. I mean, I'm assuming that you're my boyfriend now?”</p><p>“Of course! If you'll have me. I'll try not to ...you know...next time we come up.”</p><p>“Why not? I don't mind.” She kissed him gently again on the mouth, the tips of her breasts brushing against his chest again. “I mean, eventually I hope you can return the favor.”</p><p>Bolin's eyes widened. “Oooooh. Yeah of course.” He traced the line of her collarbone down to her breast. “Eventually. I don't want to go too fast, make you uncomfortable.”</p><p>Kira sighed and rested her cheek against his neck, her arms around his shoulders. “I've never felt this comfortable with anyone before, Bolin. But I don't want to rush you either.”</p><p>“Yeah, no rush,” he agreed. Kira pulled back and they both got dressed again so that she could walk him down to the front door of the apartment. Standing there together again, they kissed a deep goodbye and finally parted.</p><p>* * *</p><p>“I TOUCHED BOOBS!” Bolin shouted as soon as he closed the door to the apartment behind him—because apparently he hadn't learned his lesson from last time, his exuberance was met by the disturbed stares of Korra, Asami, and Mako, followed shortly by the two girls bursting into helpless laughter.</p><p>“Bolin, why do you feel the need to shout something like that!?” Mako snapped. “Not appropriate!”</p><p>“Sorry! Sorry! I was just excited!”</p><p>Korra and Asami's laughter had quieted to the occasional giggle. “Congratulations Bolin,” Korra said with an almost-straight face. “She must really like you,”</p><p>“Aw, come on! Kira is officially my girlfriend, and I did not mean to tell you and Asami that, ONLY my brother, so please please please don't tell Kira that I told you all!”</p><p>“Of course we won't,” Asami reassured Bolin quietly. She put one hand over Korra's, beside her on the couch. “Right Korra?”</p><p>“Fine, I won't tell.” Korra sighed good-naturedly. Bolin deflated with relief.</p><p>“Thank you. Now excuse me, I have to go change my pants.”</p><p>There was another shocked silence, and then another howling outburst of laughter. This time, Bolin melted to the floor in embarrassment and crawled quietly to his bedroom. He closed the door and didn't come out for the rest of the night.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Mansion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A week passed before Bolin and Kira were able to get together again, for the Birthday Ball Asami was throwing for Korra at her mansion. Bolin was nervous but excited since this would be his first public appearance in front of all his friends with Kira as his girlfriend. He was dressed in a snazzy green and gray formal suit when he picked up Kira with a borrowed car. As soon as she opened the door to her apartment and he saw her, he almost changed his mind and asked if they could just stay here together all night. Her dress was the dark red of traditional Fire Nation clothing, but nothing else about the dress was traditional. It was form fitting and low cut, with thin black straps draped over her shoulders and spidering down the front of the dress, converging at point just below her waist. The skirt was long but slit to the thigh, and she wore black heels and black elbow-length gloves. Her dark hair was done up up in an intricate braid and she wore golden earrings a few shades lighter than her amber eyes.</p><p>“Wow,” Bolin breathed. “You look incredible. Prettier than a championship trophy.”<br/><br/>“Thanks, I think,” Kira said with a smile. She reached up and fixed Bolin's hair, making the little curl on his forehead just so. “You always look like a mover star.” She kissed him, and his hands went to her waist, and they almost went back into the apartment and closed the door, but Bolin remembered that he'd left the car running, and they left on time after all.</p><p>There was another close call while they were driving and Bolin looked over and down into the passenger seat and discovered he could see directly down Kira's top and that she wasn't wearing a brassiere under the dress—three cars honked at him and he nearly crashed, but in the end they arrived at the ball safely and on time.</p><p>“You made it!” Korra rushed them as they entered the busy front hall of the mansion. “I don't know why I let Asami talk me into this! I feel like a prize sheep pig on display at the town festival,” her voice was a growl but her eyes were lit up with excitement.</p><p>“You look beautiful Korra,” Kira reassured the Avatar. And Bolin had to agree. Korra was both very well muscled and very well-endowed up top, and the flattering dark blue gown put both assets at Korra's advantage. It wasn't as revealing as Kira's dress, with a wide skirt and high water-tribe style collar, but it was still gorgeous. Korra's hair was down and curled. Asami sidled up to them and put an arm around Korra's waist.</p><p>“Thank you both for coming.” Asami got right down to business, handing out assignments. “I need you mingle with the pro-benders. Try to introduce them to the airbender kids if you can, they're the two groups most likely to start destroying things besides Korra and I want them distracted.”</p><p>“Hey!” Korra protested, but Asami winked at Kira and Bolin and led the birthday girl away to meet more guests.</p><p>“Whew!” Bolin said. “I guess we have to work before we can play!”</p><p>And work they did. By the time dinner was served, Kira's hair was half tumbled down and someone (Meelo) had ripped off Bolin's bowtie in a fit of rage. He'd had to Earthbend three times to stop a total destruction of property, and Kira had been a conversational mastermind of keeping the pro-bending conversations to theoretical discussions only. They both ate hungrily at the long banquet table, and were relieved when, after one dance in which the young airbenders created a tornado on the dance floor that knocked everyone down and broke the chandelier, Tenzin ordered all his children to stay within three feet of him for the rest of the night.</p><p>“We're free!” Bolin said. He flopped onto one of the fancy velvet settees around the edge of the ballroom floor. A ten-piece band was playing something smooth and slow at one end of the room, and the lights had been dimmed to create a romantic ambiance. “Wheee.”<br/>Kira sat delicately beside him. “That was exhausting. I hope our kids aren't that wild.”</p><p>“Our kids?” Bolin sat up in a panic. “Is there something you need to tell me?”</p><p>“No!” Kira flushed. “ I just meant theoretical kids. Someday kids. Maybe kids.” She glanced shyly at him. “Sorry.”</p><p>“Nononono. Don't be sorry!” Bolin scooted over to her and put one arm around her shoulders. “I like the idea of theoretical someday kids. I like that idea a lot!”</p><p>“Me too.” She gripped his free hand and sighed, twining her fingers through his. “I really like being with you Bolin.” She looked up and met his eyes, dark and wide in the dim light of the ballroom. “I know we haven't been together for very long, but I have feelings for you. I...I love you.”</p><p>Bolin stared in shock at the beautiful woman in his arms confessing her love to him. His mouth opened, then closed, then he leaned forward and kissed her. His hands went to her hair and his heart felt raw, exposed, but also warm and full of a light that came from elsewhere...from Kira. He pulled out of the kiss and met her eyes again. They were like chips of yellow glass, burning with passion and love for him. “I love you Kira,” he said it as he felt it, like he'd break if he didn't.</p><p>They kissed again, this time more intensely. Bolin desperately wished that they were alone at her apartment and not in a crowded ballroom, so that he didn't have to settle for just kissing. His hands roamed her back desperately, his mouth pressed against her neck, her throat, her collarbone...all the while she whispered his name.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Meelo demanded, his hands on his hips, his icy eyes glaring at the couple. Bolin dragged his face away from Kira's cleavage with extreme regret.</p><p>“Aren't you supposed to be with your parents right now?” Bolin asked. His eye might have begun twitching if he weren't the most calm and easygoing Earthbender in Republic city.</p><p>“They're boring!” Meelo complained. “And this music is boring! And this party is boring! I want fireworks! I want bending! I want fighting!”</p><p>“I'll show you a fight,” Bolin stood and pushed up the sleeves of his suit and very nearly stomped a piece of the marble floor right at the young airbender, but Kira's hand caught the back of his shirt and pulled him back.</p><p>“Bolin! You'll ruin Asami's house!” Kira yelped.</p><p>“I'll fight you Earth-bender!” Meelo leapt up into the air with a burst of airbending, only be caught by one leg my Tenzin, who appeared fortuitously at that very moment. The airbending master looked frazzled and tired.</p><p>“We are leaving!” Tenzin hissed at his unruly son. Meelo attempted to protest, but was swiftly wrapped up in Tenzin's cloak and tossed over his father's shoulder like a sack of flour. “You've done enough damage to Asami's house already!”</p><p>Tenzin winked at Bolin before making a swift exit.</p><p>Bolin deflated into a heap of disappointed hormones and unspent fighting energy, but Kira was right beside him, her arm around his waist.</p><p>“Do you think Asami would mind if we found somewhere a little more private for a few minutes?” Kira murmured.</p><p>“Surely not,” Bolin said, his hopes rising. “Now that Tenzin and the kids are gone, I don't think anyone will miss us at all!”</p><p>They made their way towards the exit, but when the passed the dance floor, Korra caught Bolin by the arm. “It's my birthday! You're the only guy here I haven't danced with!”</p><p>“Oh I'm terrible at dancing!” Bolin said, but it was too late, the headstrong Avatar had hooked him at the elbow and pulled him to the dance floor. He gave Kira a helpless shrug, and she watched with a muffled laugh as Korra led him around the dance floor.</p><p>“May I?” Mako surprised Kira from the other side, holding out one elegantly gloved hand towards her. His serious bright eyes were kind and polite. Kira nodded and let him lead her, much more gently than Korra was leading Bolin. Kira found herself looking way up to meet Mako's eyes, since he was taller even than Bolin. He was nothing but the perfect gentleman, one hand on her waist, one holding her other hand, and his steps were sure and smooth. He was smiling, happy, watching Bolin and Korra out of the corner of his eye as they whirled past.</p><p>“I hope my brother is treating you well,” Mako said. “He can be...enthusiastic, I know.”</p><p>“Bolin is wonderful,” Kira said, and she felt her face flushing. “I mean, I really adore him. He's so kind and generous and fun and strong...” she cut off her compliments lest she come off as some simpering fan. But they were all true. She kept up with Mako's steps, smiling.</p><p>“And naive, and thick-headed, and oblivious...” Mako added with a good-natured laugh. “But really, if you ever have a problem with him, I hope you know I would do anything to help. He's been really happy since you two started dating. I appreciate that.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Kira said. “He makes me very happy as well.” She looked over at the subject of their conversation, where he and Korra were dominating the dance floor. Other couples had to dive out of the way to make room for Korra and Bolin. Kira smiled fondly.</p><p>The dance ended, much to everyone's relief, and Bolin wobbled dizzily over to Mako and Kira. He took her hand from Mako's with only the tiniest hint of jealousy in his expression.</p><p>“The next dance is mine, if you please,” He said, his nose in the air. Mako bowed politely and handed off Kira to his brother with an ironic smile. She laughed and put her arms around Bolin's waist, smelling the comforting scent of his laundry soap and sweat.</p><p>“Only if you promise not to fling me around like you did Korra. I don't know if I could survive something like that.” Kira said.</p><p>“I will dance with you as if you were a lotus blossom resting on a still pond,” Bolin said with a straight face, but his eyes were twinkling. He held her close, and luckily the next song was slow and smooth.</p><p>“I'm not much of a dancer.” Kira confessed, “Except for Fire Nation court dances. Nothing like this.”</p><p>“You were doing fine with Mako just now.”</p><p>“You saw that?” She laughed. “I'm surprised you could see anything with all that exercise you and Korra were doing.”</p><p>“Yeah, me and Korra were just goofing,” Bolin confessed. “You and Mako looked nice together."</p><p>“He may be a good dancer, but sadly, he's not very good looking.” Kira's amber eyes twinkled up at Bolin, who flushed.</p><p>“You don't like them tall dark and handsome, huh?”</p><p>“I prefer my men strong and smiling,” Her hand went from his waist to his chest as they danced, feeling the firm muscles there, her eyes shining. Bolin leaned down and kissed her, and they stopped dancing for a moment. The world seemed to go on around them, separate from them, as the other couples continued to move, but the only think in the universe for them, in that moment, was the kiss. His lips were soft, his breath quick, Kira's hand on his chest clutched the fabric tight and she pressed herself completely against him.</p><p>“We should go somewhere,” Bolin murmured against her mouth.</p><p>“Yes please,” Kira sighed breathlessly.</p><p>Bolin took her hand and led her, weaving through the crowd, off of the dance floor and towards the exit. The hallways were dimly lit and there were only a few people hanging around with drinks, chatting or cuddling.</p><p>“I know somewhere we can go,” Bolin said excitedly. Kira followed.</p><p>* * *</p><p>The indoor pool was dark and quiet, with benches along one wall and plants along the other. Above, a dark skylight showed the faint outline of the moon above.</p><p>“I don't want to go swimming,” Kira said, looking down at her dress uncertainly.</p><p>“We don't have to swim, I just thought this place would be nice and private. Asami invited us to come swimming here a few times before. It's heated by electricity, even in the winter.”</p><p>Kira walked along the edge of the pool. “That must be nice. Like the hot springs back home.”</p><p>Bolin pulled her away from the edge and into an embrace. “Do you miss home?”</p><p>“Not particularly. I like studying at the university, and I like being with you. It's worth it.” She ran her hand along the front of his shirt, then began to unbutton it. She wanted to touch his skin, feel him against her. Bolin helped, unbuttoning the slightly disheveled white undershirt and untucking it from his pants. “Mmm.” Kira slid her arms around his waist under his shirt, enjoying the muscles of his back, his shoulders and hips. Then she slid her hands to the front, just below his navel, where his hip bones jutted out above his waistband. Bolin sucked in a slightly nervous breath, then kissed her. His own hands moved the straps of her gown out of the way, down her shoulders to bare her breasts. His tongue tasted her, one hand cupped her breast, the other slid down her waist to caress the curve of her hip, her behind, her thigh. He pulled her in close tight against him, and they could both feel his erection hard and urgent between them.</p><p>“Bolin,” Kira gasped. Her eyes were closed and he had move his mouth to her neck, sucking and kissing the tender skin, making her squirm and groan with pleasure. Her hands plucked at his waistband and she rubbed her body against his bulge. “Can I touch you?”</p><p>Bolin was still for a moment, his hot breath on her collarbone, his hands stopped their wandering. “Yeah, you can,” he breathed. He was still as Kira unbuttoned his pants and slipped her hand inside the waistband, inside his underwear, down to explore. She gripped his cock wondrously, surprised by how velvety smooth the skin was, stretched out tight around the thick hard member. Bolin shivered against her.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Kira asked.</p><p>“I'm great... just...no one but me has ever, you know...”</p><p>“That's okay, right?” Kira asked. She turned her face up to his to kiss him again, even as her hand shifted to feel the fluid leaking from the tip. She rubbed at it experimentally, causing Bolin to groan and press his hips against her body.</p><p>“Tell me if you want met to stop,” Kira offered, but Bolin shook his head.</p><p>“No, keep going. It feels...different. Good different.”</p><p>Kira pulled his head down to her and nibbled on his ear, even as her hand explored the length of him. “What feels best?” she asked. “How do I make you finish?”</p><p>“Honestly it won't take much,” Bolin confessed. “But when I do it myself...I kind of...” He slipped his hand down his pants and put it over hers, showing her the motion, squeezing from the base upwards and then rubbing back down, using the precum to help lubricate everything. Kira did a few strokes and Bolin withdrew his hand, gasping and groaning.</p><p>“Like that?” Kira asked.</p><p>“Oh spirits,” Bolin moaned, his eyes closed, his face buried in her neck. Kira stroked again, her hand gripping tightly. She turned her face up and sucked on his earlobe again as she pulled, and then she felt him finish, hot and pulsing and gushing against her hand. “Kira!” He let out a muffled shout against her and held onto her for dear life, as if she was a raft and he was being sucked down a river. His legs trembled and his breathing was shaky.</p><p>“Wow,” Kira marveled. “That was...”</p><p>“Messy?” Bolin offered.<br/><br/>“Sexy,” she breathed. “But now what? How are we going to clean this up?”</p><p><br/>“Oh, um...” Bolin looked around, but the pool room was not stocked with towels. Normally servants would bring them in as needed.</p><p>“Are my gloves still in your pocket?” Kira asked.</p><p>“Yeah but...it might ruin them. Are you sure?”</p><p>Kira pulled her hand out of his pants and showed him the sticky mess. “I don't really want to go back to the party like this,” she said.</p><p>“Right,” Bolin gave her one glove to clean off with, and used the other to clean himself up the best he could. When he was done, he put both gloves back into his suit pockets and began buttoning back up.</p><p>“Wait a minute, what about me?” Kira asked, stopping him from getting dressed.</p><p>“What...about you?” Bolin asked.</p><p>“Aren't you going to ask to touch me too?” She lifted the leg under the slit in her dress, drawing up and open over her thighs. There was a mischievous look in her eyes, and her smile was downright wicked. With her straps still pulled down and her breasts completely on display, she was quite a sight even in the dim light of the unlit pool room. Bolin's eyes nearly popped out of his head.</p><p>“Oh man oh man. I don't even know what to do,” he began, but Kira just laughed and put her leg down.</p><p>“Bolin, I was just joking. We've been away from the party for a while. People might notice.”</p><p>Bolin sighed. “Kira I do want to touch you, believe me. I want to kiss all of you, and show you how much I love you. Just...is it okay if we take it slow?”</p><p>“It is,” Kira said. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him again. “We have all the time we need.”</p><p>* * *</p><p>It turned out that they were missed. The first person they saw as they returned was Mako, who was standing in the doorway to the ballroom scowling around at everyone who went in or out.</p><p>“There you both are,” Mako said. “Korra was looking for you.”</p><p>“Oops. I wanted to show Kira the pool.”</p><p>“Yeah, it was pretty. We could see the moon through the skylight.”</p><p>The looked guiltily at each other, but Mako only raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you're going to leave you should at least say goodbye,” he said.</p><p>“Of course. Are things winding down?” Kira asked.</p><p>Mako shook his head. “Korra maybe had a bit much to drink and now she's having challenges instead of dancing.” He stepped aside so that they could see Korra and a water tribe man each shoving as many mini sausages into their mouths as possible while onlookers cheered.</p><p>“Oh man,” Bolin smacked his head. “I rock at that game!”</p><p>The stayed into the early hours of the morning giving and accepting challenges that ranged from limbo-dancing to obscure bending skills (such as seeing who could mold a pebble into the most-sided dice possible) to eating and drinking games (Mako threw up after only three drinks, while Korra managed 6 but was disqualified for healing herself) until finally an exhausted Asami offered anyone still there a room in one of the guest wings.</p><p>Kira and Bolin held hands, blushed, and accepted graciously. Asami handed them a key with a satisfied smile.</p><p>The room, as all the rooms in Asami's mansion, was elegant and perfectly kept, The double bed was laid with thick white sheets and a plush carpet cushioned their feet from the polished hardwood floor. The room was small, but there was an attached bathroom with all the necessary facilities.</p><p>Bolin and Kira were too exhausted to do anything but strip to their underwear, get under the covers together, and fall asleep holding hands.</p><p>* * *</p><p>“Bolin,” Kira nudged Bolin softly with her feet under the covers. He was on his back, with his mouth open, a little bit of drool pooling at the corner of his mouth. She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Bolin,” she said again.</p><p>Bolin rolled towards her and opened his eyes slightly, then nearly hopped out of the bed. “Kira! Oh man! Did we...” he looked around, and the previous night's party came back to him. “Ohhhhhh, we're at Asami's, that's right.”</p><p>“We are,” Kira confirmed. “But you don't have to get up just yet.” She raised her eyebrows at him and pulled the covers down to reveal what she was wearing...or rather, what she wasn't wearing.</p><p>“Oh? Ohhhhh.” Bolin slid carefully back down beside Kira. It was still warm, but his pillow was slightly wet. He reached for her and put his hands on her waist, pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn't wearing anything down there either. His cock, partially stiff already from sleep, hardened even further at the discovery.</p><p>Kira snuggled up close to him, only the thin fabric of his underwear separating him from her, her bare breasts against him. He kissed her, and she squirmed deliciously beside him. His hand on her hip explored tentatively, cautiously, unsure. He moved towards her front and the short curling hair there, then hesitated.</p><p>“Is this okay?” he asked quietly. “Just tell me if you want me to stop,”</p><p>“I want you Bolin,” Kira said. She slid her hand down on top of his, guiding him down to the slick folds. “I want you to touch me like we touched you last night.”</p><p>“I'll try,” he said.<br/><br/>“I'll help you,” she answered.</p><p>Kira thrust her hips forward and put one leg over Bolin's waist, giving his hand room to move down even further, until his thick finger went inside, just a little bit, warm and wet and tight. The heel of his palm was against her clitoris, and Kira pressed it hard against her, showing him the rubbing motion that made her tense up and groan. Bolin complied, sliding his hand up and down, his finger in and out, slowly and methodically.</p><p>“Kiss me,” Kira urged, and she took up his mouth with hers, urgent, tearing kisses. His morning stubble ripped at her lips, leaving them red and raw, and she gasped and clenched her thighs around his hand. Bolin pressed harder, went in further, until with every thrust of his hand he was fighting against her squeezing legs. He moved his mouth to her nipple and Kira shouted, tensing her entire body with the release, her fingers entwined almost painfully in Bolin's dark hair. He stilled his hand, feeling her walls practically pulse around his finger which was still buried inside her.</p><p>“Mmmmhmmm.” Kira couldn't put together a coherent sentence. “Bolin,” she breathed finally when she had her breath.</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“That was wonderful.” She snuggled up on him and let her hands rest around his neck. Do you want me to do you again?”</p><p>“What? Oh, you don't have to. I should probably take a bath, you know.”</p><p>Kira threw the blankets off of them, revealing Bolin's hard cock almost bursting out of his underwear. His eyes were drawn to the smooth curves of her body, breast, hip, leg. He pulled his hand out from between her legs and sighed. “Beautiful,” he murmured.<br/><br/>“I want to,” Kira urged. She dipped her own fingers between her legs and they came away slick with her fluids. “Can I?”</p><p>Bolin shivered against her. “Yeah. Oh....yes,” her fingers brushed against his cock from outside his underwear, and then pulled his waistband down to reveal his full erection. Bolin shimmied out of his underwear altogether, until he was fully on display. Kira was fascinated. She ran her hand up and down the shaft, along the underside, over the tip. Bolin lay back on the bed and groaned with pleasure. Her other hand cupped his testicles gently. “I've never seen one before, in real life,” Kira said. “I can't believe it's so big.”</p><p>Bolin choked. “It's...not. It's just normal sized, I think. Like, I don't go around looking at other guys, but as far as I know, it's....normal.”</p><p>“Oh. I can't believe it's supposed to fit...” she flushed and gestured to her own groin, where his single finger had seemed to fill her up so much.</p><p>She took a good grip, like Bolin had showed her the night before at the pool, and began moving up and down the shaft, watching the skin slide with her hand curiously. She had a sudden desire to kiss the tip, but she was too shy to ask about it and instead focused on the gripping and pulling.</p><p>“Is this...working?” Kira asked. She sat up on her knees, her bare breasts above Bolin's face. He watched her working on him and could barely speak except for a desperate moan of pleasure.</p><p>“Yeah,” He said, his voice barely a croak. “I'm getting close,”</p><p>Kira went faster and harder, adding her other hand to cover more of the shaft as she pulled. Bolin gave a shout reached down to catch the thick white liquid as is squirted in pulsing bursts from his cock. It filled his cupped hands, managing to not spray all over Kira, himself, or the sheets of their borrowed bed.</p><p>Kira handed him a tissue from the box placed conveniently on the bedside table and he cleaned it all up. When he was done, she snuggled back against him, her arms around his neck, her leg thrown over his hip. She loved the closeness, the warmth, the smell, the firmness of his shape against her. “I love you,” she breathed against him.“I love you,” Bolin whispered into her hair.</p><p>There was a knock on the door.</p><p>“I brought you some spare clothes,” Mako's voice said. “I'm leaving them here outside the door.”“Thanks Bro!” Bolin shouted out.</p><p>“There's some for Kira too.”</p><p>Bolin and Kira looked at each other and giggled, their faces red.</p><p>“Thanks Mako!” Kira squeaked.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. His Apartment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kira felt like she hadn't left the University library in days. It had been several weeks since the party, and she'd hardly seen the sun, much less Bolin or any of her friends, seeing as midterms were in a few days. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned, but when she settled back down she noticed a familiar pair of bright green eyes watching her from over a book at the table across from her. A smile tumbled over her lips and the next time he peeked at her, she met his eyes. She pulled out the chair beside her and tilted her head at him.</p><p>Bolin's face turned pink and Kira worried that he might run away instead, he quickly and quietly wove his way through the tables towards her.</p><p>“Hi,” he whispered, slipping into the unoccupied chair, “I didn't want to interrupt you if you were busy, but I just....hadn't seen you in a while. Hope that wasn't creepy.”</p><p>“It's okay. I'm glad you're here.” She put her hand on his. “I'm sorry I've been so distant, I just have to make it through my exams and then I'll have a break again. I've missed you.”</p><p>“Yeah, I've missed you too. I guess this stuff is important...” Bolin glanced around at the papers and books laid out around her. “What is it?”</p><p>“Well my major is economics, so I have a history course on the disruption of trade in the 100 Years war, advanced mathematics, intro to political science, and a currency valuation analysis paper for an independent study.”</p><p>“Woah. I barely dropped out of school when I was 14. It wasn't really a requirement for the triad...or pro bending...or team Avatar. This stuff looks intense.”</p><p>“It is. But it's what I've always wanted. My family is a leading noble house in the Fire Nation and if I'm to serve, then I have to bring something to the table. I'm not a bender like my brothers, and I don't want to marry some stuck up Fire Nation brat...” She crossed her arms and chewed on her lip grumpily. “I always thought that education was my way out. And it brought me here to you, so it must be right.”</p><p>“You're from a noble family?” Bolin's voice squeaked, louder than he intended, earning him some shushing from the tables nearby.</p><p>“Well yeah, Asami and I met at one of the most expensive private schools in Republic City. That's where we became friends.”</p><p>“Wow,” Bolin blinked and looked back at all the papers and books. “I'm just a peasant. A dumb peasant at that.”</p><p>“Oh Bolin, don't say that!” Kira turned to face him, pulling both his hands into her lap. “You are the kindest, most fun guy I have ever met. Schooling, money...those aren't the important things. Why do you think I didn't bring them up before?” Her face flushed. “I've had guys turn me down for dates because...well, because they said I was 'too much' for them.”</p><p>Bolin's mouth quirked up in a half-hearted smile. “Well I'm glad they turned you down, cause then you might not have stooped to dating me!”</p><p>“SSSSHHHHHH!”</p><p>“Sorry!” Bolin whispered.</p><p>Kira stifled a giggle. “I think I deserve a break,” she said. “Help me with my books?”</p><p>“Of course,” Bolin said. He gathered them all up neatly and held them under one arm so that he could hold Kira's hand with the other.</p><p>Kira looked down at their clasped hands and smiled. “On second thought, I might need one more before I leave...come on.” Instead of leading him towards the exit, she pulled him up to the second level and into the darker, more secluded stacks. She had been spending a lot of time here since the semester started and was familiar with the written and unwritten rules of the library.</p><p>“What book are you looking for? And how in the spirits do you find anything in here at all? There must be thousands of books in here.” <br/><br/>“Hundreds of thousands,” Kira corrected. “But I'm not really looking for a book.” She stopped about halfway down a dark, secluded isle. “I was looking for a more private spot for my break.”</p><p>“Oooohh,” Bolin said. “But isn't that like...against the rules?”</p><p>“Technically,” Kira said, trailing her free hand over his shoulders. “But everyone knows that students who need a break come up here for a bit to nap, or...” she kissed his neck.</p><p>“Ah...” Bolin started to melt against her, and accidentally dropped her stack of books with a loud clatter. “Shoot! Sorry! Sorry!”</p><p>Kira hid her face in his shirt to muffle her laughter. “For being part of team Avatar, I'd think you'd be more stealthy.”</p><p>“You kissed me! It threw me off my sneaking groove. Besides, I didn't know we were sneaking. I thought we were looking for a book,” Bolin said. He hurriedly gathered up all the books and papers he had dropped, and it was a good thing, because the ruckus had indeed brought unwanted attention upon them.</p><p>“Is everything okay here?” A plump librarian with thick glasses stood at the end of the row, silhouetted against the well-lit rest of the library, her arms crossed and her eyes flashing dangerously.</p><p>“No thank you,” Kira said with an elegant bow. “My friend was carrying my books for me and accidentally dropped them.”</p><p>“Hmm. Please be mindful of others and keep the noise down!” the librarian huffed. “This is a place of learning.”</p><p>“Yes ma'am,” Kira nodded and stood patiently and straight faced until the librarian was out of earshot, then collapsed into girlish giggles.</p><p>“Does that mean your break is over?” Bolin asked sheepishly.</p><p>Kira shook her head. She'd recovered herself and looked every bit like a responsible scholar again. “No, but I do think we should get out of here for a while.”</p><p>Bolin sagged with relief. “That's fine by me!”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>They decided to get something to eat, since Kira had studied through dinner. It was already past dark and she'd had Bolin carry her books for her in a canvas sack she'd brought for that purpose. While Kira had struggled with the heavy load every day that week, Bolin had it slung over his shoulder like it was nothing at all. Kira remembered how he'd picked her up at the beach that day when she's sprained her ankle, the beginning of the end, and how good it hat felt for his strong arms to be around her again. She touched his hand with hers and smiled up at him, and they walked hand in hand for a while. It was nice.</p><p>The noodle shop only a few blocks away, but they passed through some of the rougher streets to get there and Kira kept close to Bolin. Sure enough though, as they passed one of the darker alleyways, two tough's dressed in dark green sidled out and cut them off. They had strips of white cloth tied like armbands on their sleeves.</p><p>“Oh man, you guys do not want to start trouble with me,” Bolin warned. “I know we look like easy targets, but you should seriously just walk away.”</p><p>“Who do you think you are? This is Boulder Town and you look like a Triad guy.” The speaker was the thug on the right, with a shaved head and a drooping mustache. The other was younger, with shaggy dark hair and goatee.</p><p>“Guys! I haven't been Triple Threat in years! And it was my brother who really worked for them, not me, I just was like a lookout and stuff! I helped the Avatar put Zolt in prison!”</p><p>“You?” The first tough smirked and stepped forward, and Kira clutched Bolin's hand even tighter.</p><p>“Yes me,” Bolin's laid-back, defensive attitude faded into a resolute anger. It gave the thugs a moment's hesitation, just enough for Bolin to jump into a defensive stance and smash the oncoming boulder that the first guy had thrown. Kira yelped and backed away from the fight, but she needn't have worried. The two thugs were no match for a pro-bender. Bolin stomped up some Earth disks and sent them flying at his opponents with quick jabs, the first taking the mustachioed thug in the belly and knocking his wind out, the next tripping shaggy. Another disk sent thug number one flying into the brick wall behind him, and yet another slammed into shaggy's belly even as he lay flat on his back on the sidewalk. A few more steps and bending, and rock erupted from the ground to pin their arms and legs to in place.</p><p>“Pathetic,” Bolin scoffed. “Who's your leader?”</p><p>“That would be me,” A voice said from behind them. Bolin whirled around, but a woman had snuck up on them while he was distracted, and she had a knife to Kira's throat. She was tall and thin, and Bolin could see the whites of her eyes even in the dim lighting of the alleyway. Kira had her eyes closed and she was trembling, trying not to move against the pressure on her neck.</p><p>“They weren't mean to beat you, boy,” the woman said. “Just distract you for a moment.”</p><p>Bolin's face was deadly serious. “Let her go!” he demanded.</p><p>“Or what? You can't bend at me or I'll slit her throat right here,” <br/><br/>“She won't,” Kira said. “She's being paid to kidnap me!”</p><p>“I already got half my money for the contract, I don't care about the rest. She die and I still keep what I got.”</p><p>“I will not let you do that!” Bolin leapt forward, using the ground under him to push him and forward, launching himself like a missile at the two women. He landed on top of both of them, knocking the wind out of Kira but more importantly knocking the knife away from Kira's throat. The Boulder leader rolled away and recovered quickly, but not before she managed to slice open Bolin's arm, sending a gush of blood down his bicep. He was already Earthbending again though, sending waves through the ground to knock her off balance. She was quick though too, and managed to throw her knife at Kira.</p><p>Bolin raised the Earth under Kira, sending her fifteen feet into the air on a plateau of rock and out of harm's way, then turned back to his opponent. “You're going to regret this!” he growled. His rage seemed to bubble out of him, erupting like a fire inside him, until the ground beneath them turned red and orange, glowing with a molten light.</p><p>“What is this!?” The attacker backed away in fear. “What are you doing?”</p><p>Bolin stepped forward and the ground literally erupted—molten rock splashed up and towards his opponent, who shrieked and fell over backwards trying to get away before managing to hold off the lava with a stomp of her foot and a shield of Earth. Bolin pushed the lava to one side, encircling the gang leader and giving her nowhere to run. The ground was boiling hot, but his green eyes were cold.</p><p>“Bolin!” Kira shouted from her vantage point, which was rapidly sinking as the bottom of the pillar melted into lava. That snapped Bolin out of his rage, and he immediately imprisoned the Boulder Town leader in rock and then cooled the lava into hard, shining obsidian. Finally, carefully, he lowered Kira's platform and pulled her into an embrace that took her breath away.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Bolin asked her. She was shaking, but she nodded.</p><p>“Your arm...” Kira pulled out of the embrace, her hand wet with his blood.</p><p>Bolin winced, but then sighed “I'm okay. As long as you're okay, I'm okay.” He looked around at the captives and the mess he'd made of the street and sidewalk. “I should probably call the police.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>By the time they explained everything to the police, Kira didn't feel like going to a restaurant, or studying, or even going back to her own apartment. She was shaken and flustered, and she wanted to make sure that Bolin was taken care of. She went with him to the healing center and watched fretfully as the waterbenders tended to his arm, then, when they left the building, she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could, and traitorous tears leaked out. In an instant she was crying in earnest, and the front of Bolin's shirt was soaked.</p><p>“Hey, I'm fine.” Bolin, wrapping her up in a hug. “You're fine. The police have the bad guys. That's a happy ending.”</p><p>“I know,” Kira sniffed. “I'm just...you were amazing, and you saved my life, but I'm... <em>still scared</em>.”</p><p>“That's okay too. That's normal. I was scared too—that they would hurt you. I've never felt so scared and angry in my life. I don't even know what came over me, how I did what I did.”</p><p>“Lavabending,” Kira mused, her tears finally done. “You're a lavabender. It's a really rare talent.”</p><p>“I had no idea, until just now,” Bolin said. “I...could have killed her. If you hadn't called out to me right then...” he shivered.</p><p>“I'm glad you didn't.”</p><p>“Me too.”</p><p>They stood together in an embrace for a long time, until finally Kira's stomach rumbled and they both laughed.</p><p>“Want me to walk you home now?” Bolin offered. “Or get something to eat? Most places are closed by now, but we can try.”</p><p>“Actually...I was wondering if I could stay with you tonight. I don't want to be alone.”</p><p>“Sure, sure, no problem. I'm sure Mako won't mind. He works all hours of the night anyway, he might not even be home.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>“Bolin, hey, you're in late. And Kira? Uh, hi.” Mako was on the couch in his underwear, but he quickly pulled a blanket over himself when he saw her. So much for working late.</p><p>Bolin dropped the sack of books he'd been hauling for Kira. “Heeeeey.” Bolin said awkwardly. “Do we have any food? We kinda had to fight off some kidnappers and I did some lavabending and well, we didn't get to have dinner.”</p><p>“Lavabending? Bo that's so cool!”</p><p>“Yeah, my girlfriend almost dying and then me almost melting someone into lava...so cool.” Bolin said dejectedly.</p><p>“Bolin,” Kira piped up, “It <em>was</em> awesome.” She didn't let go of his arm until he led her to the table and gently pried her off.</p><p>“We have....instant noodles, a box of crackers, and a single moon peach.” Bolin offered the food to her.</p><p>“That's plenty, thank you,” Kira said.</p><p>“Mako?” Bolin tossed his brother the instant noodles, and Mako heated it with some firebending and then handed it back. It was deliciously warm, not too hot but not too cold. Something told Kira that they ate a lot of instant noodles in this apartment.</p><p>“Kira's going to stay here tonight,” Bolin said to his brother. “You don't mind, right?”</p><p>“No, of course not. As long as you're quiet. I have to report to the precinct first thing tomorrow.</p><p>“We'll try,” Bolin said with a wink at Kira. “No promises.”</p><p>Mako rolled his eyes. “Goodnight.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Once the noodles were consumed, Bolin offered Kira dibs on the shower so that he could hastily straighten up the sheep-pig sty that was his room. He threw the dirty clothes into a hamper, put clean sheets on his bed, and shoved all the junk into the drawers of his dresser. He didn't have a lot of stuff, and his walls were bare except for a fireferrets poster and a framed picture of Team Avatar that Asami had given him, but it was a cozy. He finished tidying just as Kira came in, wrapped in only a towel, her long dark hair still dripping.</p><p>“Oh, here. You can use one of my shirts to sleep in if you want.” He offered her a white undershirt.</p><p>“That would be nice,” Kira said gratefully. She took the proffered shirt, which was soft from use and smelled very much like Bolin, in a good way.</p><p>“I should shower and get all this blood off of me.”</p><p>“Sure. I'm going to try and read a little more of my history book. Tonight was pretty much a bust for studying.”</p><p>“Sorry,” Bolin began, but Kira stopped him, sliding up to him and putting her arms around him.</p><p>“Don't. If you hadn't been there tonight... well, I don't want to think about that.” she shivered.</p><p>“You're okay. It's normal to feel shook up after a fight. But if I've learned anything, it's that you can't think about what might have happened. Just celebrate being okay.”</p><p>Kira smiled against him and Bolin dropped his chin onto the top of her head. She smelled like his soap, mingled with the natural spicy scent of her, and it was intoxicating.</p><p>“I'll be back,” Bolin announced, and he hurried off to get his shower done. Kira dug her textbook out of her bag and settled herself on Bolin's bed—the only place to sit in the small bedroom—to read, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that she could see into the bathroom. If she leaned just a bit, part of the open doorway to Bolin's room overlapped with part of the open door to the bathroom. Bolin must have forgotten to close it all the way, or else he wasn't in the habit of worrying about it since it was only his brother who lived here with him.</p><p>Kira didn't mean to peep, exactly, but he <em>was </em>her boyfriend and he probably wouldn't mind. Besides, she liked seeing him so unselfconsciousness, stripping out of his bloodied shirt and tossing it onto the floor, unbuttoning his pants, and examining his own face in the mirror for a moment. He stretched the arm that had been cut, frowning as he flexed the newly-healed bicep, and Kira's heart fluttered. She would never get tired of watching him flex. Then down came his underwear, and she had nearly fell off the bed. He was gorgeous. She hadn't seen him fully undressed and upright before. It was just a moment in profile through two doorways, but she found herself reaching for her own underwear, just gently touching herself through the fabric as she watched him. He climbed into the shower and was obscured by the glass, and Kira sighed with disappointment. Maybe if she leaned a little more....FWUMP. She landed on the floor in a heap.</p><p>Mako's head popped out of his doorway, his eyes bleary with sleep. He glanced from the open bathroom where Bolin was showering to the to Kira's red-faced heap on the floor and back again, then turned bright red and retreated slowly back into his room. Kira heard the lock click and she almost died of embarrassment. She'd been caught peeping! What was Mako going to think of her? What was Bolin going to think of her? Maybe the best thing would be to confess. She gathered herself up, tugging Bolin's old undershirt down to cover more of her thighs, and padded quietly over to the bathroom. She paused in the doorway, watching yet again despite herself, and admiring Bolin's superbly athletic, completely naked form.</p><p>“Kira!” Bolin's face turned bright red and he turned to face the wall, inadvertently giving her a very good view of his back and backside.</p><p>“Sorry!” She covered her eyes with her hands. “I'm sorry! I just saw that you didn't close the door all the way, and I then Mako saw me watching you, and I thought...oh spirits, I'm sorry Bolin.”</p><p>“No, it's fine,” Bolin turned back around slowly. “You just surprised me is all. I guess I'm used to the men's showers at the Arena, we don't even have private stalls so I don't even think about the door but I guess I should have since you're staying over and....um, hey, you don't have to cover your eyes.”</p><p>Kira lowered her hands nervously. She watched Bolin's face as his eyes traveled down her body, in his old shirt. It was sleeveless, white and loose, but hung low on her shoulders and highlighted the erect points of her nipples before flowing down over her waist, where the outline of her dark panties was visible through the fabric, and then finally ended mid-thigh, leaving very little of her legs to the imagination. Then she watched his groin in fascination as his member slowly reddened and grew, lengthening and thickening as he noted her body. Bolin covered himself with his hands, his face suddenly as red a a lobster mouse.</p><p>“Should I go?” she asked. “I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.”</p><p>“No, you can stay.” Bolin said. He turned back from her (exposing his exquisite derriere again) and quickly rinsed the soap out of his hair. “I'm done anyway.” He grabbed a towel from the rack, dried himself, and then wrapped it tightly around his waist, mostly concealing his enormous hard-on.</p><p>“I'm sorry for peeping at you. I feel guilty.” <br/><br/>“No, it's okay. I forgive you.” He took her hands in his. “It doesn't bother me, really. It was just a surprise to see you, and then my penis reacted to you, and now I can't stop looking at you and wanting to touch you--</p><p>”Kira cut him off with a kiss. She had to stand on her tip-toes to reach. Bolin murmured against her mouth as if was going to keep rambling, but it quickly faded into a groan of pleasure.</p><p>“Can we continue this conversation in the bed?” Kira asked with a smile.</p><p>Bolin leaned down, picked her up in his arms, and carried her there, making sure to close the door firmly behind them before gently laying her down.</p><p>On the bed, things progressed quickly, with Kira on her back and Bolin slightly straddling her. She pulled the shirt up and off over her head, exposing her entire bosom to him, which Bolin took quick advantage of. Her breasts were small but shapely, her skin fair but the nipples large and pink. He took one into his mouth and gave it a firm suckle, which caused Kira to squirm and moan under him. She couldn't believe the feeling of him on top of her like this, how insanely sexy it was, how hot and wet and safe she felt with him there. She wanted more, but she wasn't sure <em>what</em> she wanted more of. Just more.</p><p>Bolin moved to the other nipple, and Kira arched her hips up, making contact with the towel around his waist, and through it, Bolin's erection. She pulled gently at the towel with her hands until it unwound, and he was fully naked on top of her. She took a moment to discard her own underwear as well. This was it. They were both in the bed, they were naked and ready.</p><p>“Kira,” Bolin paused and looked her in the eyes. “If you want me to stop I'll stop. If you want me to keep going I'll get the protection.”</p><p>“Please don't stop,” Kira pulled him down to her, his hardness pressed against her belly, and buried her face in his neck, kissing and caressing him, her hands winding up his back and into his still-wet hair.</p><p>“Okay,” Bolin reached over to the table beside his bed and pulled out a foil-wrapped package. “This is to stop us from making a baby.”</p><p>“O-okay,” Kira could hardly process what was happening as Bolin unwrapped the bit of rubber and slid it over his cock. When he laid back on her, he guided himself towards her, and Kira felt herself opening her legs to him. His fingers explored her for a moment, and then he found his way, the tip of his cock resting against her opening.</p><p>“Are you sure Kira?” Bolin asked one more time, his green eyes hazy with lust but earnest and aware at the same time.</p><p>“Please Bolin, I love you. I want...you.” She arched her hips up, taking him in, and Bolin lowered himself the rest of the way, meeting her partway down. He gasped and buried his head in her neck.</p><p>“Spirits Kira, I...I love you. I almost finished just then.”</p><p>Kira only hummed and arched her back more, trying to find the best position. She slid down slightly and put her hand just above where they were joined, rubbing at the sensitive nub. She had feared that it might hurt to have him inside her, but all she could think about was how right it felt. He filled her up completely, like they'd been made for each other. Her mind felt hazy, like she'd had too many drinks, and all she could focus on was the feelings, the pleasure, his arms around her and his cock inside her.</p><p>“Can you keep going?” Kira asked. She pushed a lock of wet hair off his forehead with her free hand and looked into his eyes. “Can we do this?”</p><p>“Yeah, I can,” Bolin kissed her mouth gently and used one hand to prop himself up and the other to massage her breast. He gently pulled out and then pushed back in, sweat forming at his temples as he tried to control himself. Kira clenched around him, rubbing harder and faster at her clitoris and urging him to go again, <em>more</em>.</p><p>Bolin only lasted another three or four pumps before he shouted and spasmed. Kira could picture what had happened in her hands last time they'd shared a bed, happening inside her this time. She could feel the pulsing of his cock as he finished and she pressed her thighs tight against him, bucking her hips agains her hand, short jerky thrusts at his still-hard cock and then...she felt like she was bursting, falling, throbbing...her eyesight went white for a moment and she was making a noise like a moan and a shout, and then she was all shivery and trembling under him, pulling him down close until he was almost crushing her, his entire strong body completely encompassing her.</p><p>“Oh Bolin, oh spirits,” She opened her eyes to see that he had tears in his eyes. “Wait, are you alright?”</p><p>“I'm so perfectly alright, I'm wonderful!” Bolin was smiling and sniffling, and Kira was quickly growing worried about him.</p><p>“Bolin, what's wrong?”</p><p>“Nothing's wrong, I just feel so...much.. emotion. Sorry!”</p><p>Kira smiled and wiggled out from under him, wincing at the slimy feeling as they disengaged. She did her best to put her arms all the way around him, even though he was much bigger than her, and tucked her chin over his head so that his face was resting just between her bare breasts. “I don't mind. I feel...a lot of things too. Good things. You?”</p><p>“All the good things,” Bolin sighed against her with a last sniffle. His eyes were dry again, his brief moment of crying passed. “That was the most amazing thing.”</p><p>“Yeah, it was,” Kira agreed.</p><p>Bolin shifted slightly, used the towel to clean up, and then pulled the covers over them and turned off the light. “And so is this.”</p><p>“Yeah, it is.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p><br/>“You guys were <em>not</em> quiet.” Mako said with an accusing glare at Bolin. He grinned sheepishly. Kira had left to go change and go to class, and Mako was putting his shoes on to leave.</p><p>“But Mako! We did it!”</p><p>“Yeah, I figured.” Mako said, rolling his eyes. “Good for you Bo. Tell me you used protection.”“Yep.”</p><p>“And that you didn't cry.”</p><p>“Weeeeellll maybe a little. But she didn't care! She thought it was sweet.”</p><p>Mako rolled his eyes again, but he was smiling. “It probably was Bo.”</p><p>“But how did you know?”</p><p>“You're my brother. You cry when you step on a bug on accident. Besides, now I win that bet with Korra.”</p><p>“You bet on whether I'd cry after sex!? How could you!”</p><p>“It was a sure thing! And I won, so....” Mako smirked and ducked out the door, much to Bolin's chagrin.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Gym</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bolin wanted to see Kira again right away, but he also didn't want to cause another huge distraction, so he kept his attentions to just calling her each night and occasionally delivering food (but not setting foot past the doorstep of her building), until finally she was done with her exams and she entered the outside world again, blinking in the strange light of day, hand in hand with Bolin.</p><p>“How much time to you have before classes start again?” Mako asked. He and Korra and Asami had met them for lunch at a restaurant near Bolin and Mako's apartment.</p><p>“Three weeks. My parents want me to go back and visit, but...I think I'd rather stay here.” And by <em>here,</em> she mean <em>with Bolin</em>, of course. Everyone at the table understood. “They're just worried after that kidnapping attempt.”</p><p>“Any luck on getting the perps to talk?” Bolin asked his brother.</p><p>Mako shook his head. “Nothing so far. We have your statements, and the offenders were convicted of assault, but they didn't talk about who hired them.”</p><p>“Do you know why someone would try to kidnap you Kira?” Korra asked worriedly.</p><p>“Um.” Kira's face flushed and she glanced at Asami. “My father is a cousin of the Fire Lord, and is the Minister of Banking for the entire southern region of the Fire Nation.”</p><p>Mako, Bolin, and Korra gaped at her for a moment, until Asami came to her rescue.</p><p>“It's why you came to school here, in Republics City, right? They tried to extort your father before?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Who did it last time?” Mako asked. He'd recovered quickly and went back to eating. Korra, also was back to her regular self, but Bolin was eyeing her with wide-eyed apprehension.</p><p>“Please tell me you're not a princess. I have really bad luck with princesses.”</p><p>“What? No. I'm not a Princess. And if I was...why would that matter?”</p><p>Korra flicked at noodle at Mako. “Eska wasn't that bad!”</p><p>“She tried to force me to marry her!”</p><p>“Wait, who is Eska?” asked Kira.</p><p>“No one!” Bolin said.</p><p>“My cousin!” said Korra.</p><p>“The Northern Water Tribe co-chief,” said Mako.</p><p>They all looked at one another and finally Korra sighed. She gave a brief but accurate overview of what had happened. Bolin looked miserable the entire time.</p><p>“Is that why you're so nervous about...” she gestured generally towards her body, and the other people at the table all looked away uncomfortably.</p><p>“Yes! No! I don't know. It was confusing. And it's in the past,” he shivered, remembering, and then took Kira's hand and smiled brightly at her. “So don't be mad.”</p><p>“I'm not mad. It's not like I told you everything about me anyway,” Kira shrugged, embarrassed. “I just didn't want you all to think of me as a stuck up rich girl.”</p><p>“But you knew, Asami?” Korra asked.</p><p>Asami smiled gently. “Yes. And Kira isn't the only one whose family was worried about kidnapping at the private school we went to. My father's business made me a target as well when I was young.”</p><p>“But why are they targeting Kira now?” Mako wondered. The detective in him was honed in on the problem, analyzing and looking for clues.</p><p>“I don't know.” Kira said miserably. She started to pick at her food, but suddenly she wasn't very hungry. Her memory of the attack flooded back to her suddenly—the helplessness, the fear, the pain—she gulped and pushed her food away.</p><p>“Well I can protect you,” Bolin said.</p><p>“Me too,” Korra agreed.</p><p>“I'll teach you self-defense,” Asami offered.</p><p>“And I'll find out what I can about the case,” Mako added.</p><p>“Thanks,” Kira said, but her heart wasn't in it.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>“I feel like such a helpless kittenmouse.” Kira said bitterly as she and Bolin left the restaurant together. Her insides felt knotted up like old string, and she kicked at the pavement grumpily as they walked, hand in hand. The approached the park, crowded with people enjoying the cool weather and the clear blue skies.</p><p>“Well it wouldn't be fair if you were an amazing fighter and a super-genius,” Bolin said. “Look at me, I'm all brawn and no brain.”<br/><br/>“Don't say that,” Kira pulled on his sleeve. “You just haven't had the same opportunities.”</p><p>“Well maybe you just haven't had the opportunity to learn to defend yourself. What do you say we go to the arena and I can show you some basic self-defense?”</p><p>“I'm not a bender,” Kira said dejectedly. “As my brothers have so often pointed out to me.”</p><p>“Well that doesn't mean you can't defend yourself. Have you ever seen Asami fight? Or the chi-blocker ninja people?”“No, I haven't,” Kira admitted.</p><p>“So what do you say?”</p><p>“Well...” Kira squeezed his hand, “I will. But only if you let me teach you some economics!”</p><p>“Deal,” Bolin said. They sealed it with a kiss.</p><p>* * *</p><p>The arena building was empty, since the tournament season was over for the year, but Bolin's key still worked and he confidently led Kira to the training room. It was large and bright, with big windows and lots of workout gear—weights, earth-disks, punching bags, mats, benches, works. There were large cleared areas on one side for bending practice as well. Bolin led Kira over to some mats in front of a mirror</p><p>“Now show me your fighting stance,” He said. Kira did. She felt awkward and silly, but she put her hands into fists and hunkered down, cringing.</p><p>Bolin circled her, looking her up and down. “You're small and short, so you need to use leverage, not strength...which is not my specialty, being more of a 'blast them to bits with rocks' kinda guy...” he straightened her shoulders and nudged her foot with his, getting her into a balanced fighting stance. Kira's face flushed at his critique, but she knew he didn't mean anything rude by it. It was obvious from their previous encounters that he liked her body. At least, she told herself that. Why then, did she feel so inadequate?</p><p>“Okay, now watch.” He threw a punch into the air slowly, a traditional boxing jab. Then he did it again, fast. “Now you try.”</p><p>Kira did, badly, and Bolin gently corrected her, helped her, and had her try again. Wrong knuckles. Pivot your foot. Jump into it. Again. And again. She started to feel tired, and like she'd never get it, but she kept trying.</p><p>“Alright, now I want you to punch me like that, in the gut, as hard as you can.”</p><p>“What?” Kira suddenly looked panicked, her face white and her eyes wide. Practicing punching was one thing, but punching someone—even Bolin—especially Bolin—was something else! “I don't want to hurt you!”</p><p>“It won't hurt me, I promise.” Bolin said patiently. His green eyes were kind and placating.</p><p>“Well that's not encouraging either!” Kira huffed.</p><p>“No, I mean...you would do this punch at someone's face or nose to try and distract them.” He lifted his shirt and showed her his abs, chiseled and hard with a grin. “It won't hurt these.”<br/><br/></p><p>“Okay...” Kira did as he said, reeling back and punching him in the abs as hard as she could. He took it with a whuff of breath. It was like nothing. “Good. Again.”</p><p>They practiced like that for a while, until Bolin was satisfied that she had it. “Now for the next move...”</p><p>They worked for over an hour on the basics of fighting, and even a few leverage-based self defense moves that Bolin knew. By the end of it, Kira was downright tired—but in a totally different way than after a long night of studying. Fighting was surprisingly more mental than she'd thought, however. She sat down on one of the benches and put her face in her hands. Bolin settled beside her, unsure of wether to hug her or let her be.<br/><br/>“Really, you should take Asami's offer to train with her. She's not a bender and she's really good. It would probably help your confidence too. Help you feel less afraid.”</p><p>“I'm not afraid,” Kira said bravely, but it was a lie. She pulled her knees up and hugged them to herself with a sigh.</p><p>“I'm just trying to help,” Bolin said. He put a hand on Kira's shoulder, and when she didn't resist, her scooted closer to put his whole arm around her. Kira leaned into him, letting her knees fall so that she could be closer to him. He was warm, slightly sweaty, and safe. “I know,” She said quietly. “Thank you.” She kissed him, tender and timid, almost like the first time they had kissed on her doorstep. It only lasted a moment, and then they were sure of themselves again, more urgent, passionate. His lips pressed and sucked at hers, then moved on to her neck and ear, his hot breath setting her ablaze. Kira clutched his damp shirt, willing it to be gone, wishing that they were back home at her apartment, where they could give in and finish things.</p><p>“I'm sweaty,” Bolin murmured even as he sucked on her earlobe. “Sorry if that's gross.” He was momentarily self conscious about what he smelled and looked like after working with her in the warm gym.<br/><br/>“I don't mind,” Kira said. Her lips pressed against his collarbone and she tasted his sweat. It was salty, masculine, <em>Bolin</em>. “I'm probably worse.”</p><p>“Honestly it's really sexy,” Bolin confessed. He pulled her onto his lap and she went gladly. “I keep thinking I've seen you at the sexiest you could possibly be, and then...” he groaned as her bottom shifted against his growing erection, “you surprise me.”</p><p>Kira went wild when she felt his cock under her. She shifted to straddle him, locking his erection between her legs. She rubbed up against him, the rough fabric of her underwear creating a delicious friction between her clitoris and Bolin's still-contained cock.</p><p>Bolin's hands went under and up her shirt, sliding her brassiere over her small breasts and thumbing her nipples into hard nubs. He desperately wanted to kiss them, suck on them, and lay his head on them, but he was nervous about taking off their clothes here. A part of his brain (a very small part) was still functioning enough to know that this was not a private place and theoretically someone could come in to do some off-season training at any time. All the more reason to hurry. He pulled her hips in tight against his and kissed her neck hard, raking his teeth against her throat and sucking on the tender skin. His breath was hot in her ear and her moan let him know that he was going in the right direction. Kira rocked her hips back and forth, whimpering slightly as she grated her most sensitive parts against his through the fabric. Her underwear was damp with her leaking fluids, and if she wasn't careful she'd end up getting hers and Bolin's pants wet as well—not that she was thinking about that. All she could think about was Bolin—his hands on her breasts, his mouth on her neck, and his cock between her legs. She rocked her hips again, aching for him, wishing he could be inside her, filling her up with his cock, with his seed, she thrust again, clutching his shirt in tight trembling fists, clenching her core and whimpering, and again, as Bolin pinched her nipples hard with a shock of pleasure and pain, and she was there, gasping into his neck over and over, shaking from her head to her feet, waves of pleasure washing over her until they were both still.</p><p>“You okay?” Bolin asked. He planted a very gentle kiss on her collarbone and withdrew his hands from her shirt. “I wasn't expecting you to...you know, just from this.”</p><p>“Me either.” Kira said. She was still flushed, and her hands trembled slightly. She pressed her forehead against his. “It was just right, whatever you did.” She looked down at his lap, on which she was still straddled. “You didn't finish. Should I...”</p><p>“Someone might come in. We haven't exactly been silent ninjas.”</p><p>“They haven't yet...are you feeling close?”</p><p>“So close,” he sighed. Kira smiled and brushed a sweaty dark curl off of his forehead.</p><p>“So let me help.”</p><p>“Okay. But we have to keep our clothes on, just in case,” Bolin said, looking around. There was still no one there.</p><p>“Sure,” Kira said. She stood up and sat on the floor in front of him, just between his legs with her face level with his groin.</p><p>“Wait. What are you doing?”<br/><br/>Kira blushed. “I want to kiss it,” she said.</p><p>Bolin almost choked. “You don't have to...it's fine...” her hands were on his buttons, opening his pants. Her mouth was just there, inches from his cock. Suddenly it was free and Bolin closed his eyes. “Oh spirits Kira...” is voice turned into mumbled incoherence as her hot breath joined her hands on his cock, and then her lips. He shivered and suppressed a moan, turning it into a gasping grunt. When her whole mouth closed around the end of his cock, he almost died. At that moment, if anyone had interrupted them, he might have just bent some rock walls around them and begged Kira to keep going. As it was, she hadn't stopped, tentatively, sliding her tongue up and down the shaft as she stroked his cock how he'd shown her he liked it. When she started to suck on the tip, her hands pulling, he put a hand on her shoulder and tried to warn her, but it came out as a garbled mess of vowels and a spurt of seed, pulsing directly into Kira's mouth. She gagged but didn't let up until he was done, pulsing and spurting into her mouth, melting and groaning into a puddle of post-orgasmic Bolin bliss. She spit the load into a handkerchief she'd had in her pocket, then helped him do up his pants. She stood up and took his hands, pulling him to his feet so that she could put her arms around him. Bolin still felt shaky.</p><p>“I'd read about that in a romance book. What did you think?”</p><p>“Oh...it was...insane. I'm...” Bolin was still struggling to find words, something which was very rare for him. “Good. It was insanely good. You didn't have to do that!”</p><p>“I know I didn't have to do that,” Kira laughed. “That's not the point.”</p><p>“Well then what's the point?”</p><p>“That I love you,” she said. She kissed him on the mouth, and it tasted different. Tingly. Huh.</p><p>“I love you,” Bolin said again.</p><p>“Hey! It's the off season, what are you two doing in here?” A middle aged man stood in the doorway to the gym with his hands on his hips and a grouchy look on his face.</p><p>“HOLY platypus bear that was close.,” Bolin breathed out in a panicked voice, then, turning towards the intruder, “We were just leaving, sorry!”</p><p>Kira hid her face in Bolin's shirt and laughed as he pulled her to her feet and ushered her out.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Air Temple Island</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kira and Bolin were sitting at the kitchen table in the brothers' apartment while Mako lounged on the couch. A spicy stew was simmering on the stove for lunch, and a mess of papers were splayed out on the table between them. The apartment was cozy, but there was tension in the air.</p><p>“Why do are you paying 100 yuans per month for a hot tub? I don't see a hot tub anywhere.” Kira scrunched up her eyebrows and raised the bill for Bolin to look at. From the couch, Mako coughed and scowled.</p><p>“Well, after Varrick paid me for the Nuktuk movers, I had some money and I bought a hot tub. But someone,” He glanced darkly at his brother, “Made me return it, only they don't accept returns on used hot tubs so I sold it at a loss and I'm still paying the original bill.”</p><p>“So is all the Nuktuk money gone?” Kira asked, puzzling through the stacks to find the receipts Varrick's mover company had given him after each film.</p><p>“Weeeeellll kinda. It seemed like a lot at the time, so I bought a hot tub and some new clothes and then I gave a bunch away, and now....yeah. It's basically gone.”</p><p>“So who pays the bills?”</p><p>“I do,” Mako said darkly from the couch. “My meager detective's salary pays for the apartment, all of our food, and the stupid hot tub bill. That's why we eat instant noodles most of the time.”</p><p>“Well what about the royalties from Nuktuk? Surely you have some kind of royalty agreement, that whenever Varrick sells copies of the film you get a small portion?”</p><p>Bolin blinked at her. “That's a thing? I didn't know that was a thing!”</p><p>Kira closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. “Well movers are a new thing, but yeah, when an author writes a book and someone uses that idea, they get some of the money from the new thing. Like when Asami let another company make Satomobiles, they had to pay her for the right to use her company's technology. Varrick is using your face and your talent to make money, so it makes sense that you should get some. Do you know if any of the other stars get royalties?”</p><p>“I have no idea.” Bolin said, wonder in his voice. “Mako did you know that was a thing?”</p><p>“I don't know anything about movers,” Mako said with disdain. “But I do wish Bolin would contribute around here.”</p><p>“Hey! I'm still a pro-bender, even if you've moved on!”</p><p>“That costs more to play than it does to win,” Mako said. “They were ripping us off.”</p><p>Bolin pouted, his arms crossed. “It would have paid off if we won the championship.”</p><p>“Bolin,” Kira said gently, her hand on his arm, “We can talk to Varrick about a royalties arrangement going forward. Are you contracted to do any more films for him?”</p><p>“I don't know,” Bolin said thoughtfully. “I guess the Nuktuk movers are done, but I never asked if there were more.”</p><p>“If you can take advantage of your success as a mover star, you can probably get another job doing that for another company, even if Varrick doesn't want to cast you in any of his projects. And if he wants to keep you for his studio exclusively, that will give you something to bargain with as far as the royalties go. They probably won't be much, but the more movers you do, the more royalties you'll earn, and then you would most likely be able to live off of that alone.”</p><p>“That seems like cheating,” Bolin said. “Just getting money for something I did once.”</p><p>“I guarantee you that Varrick is still making plenty of money off of Nuktuk,” Kira said wryly. “It was playing in auditoriums across the Fire Nation before I left to come here for school.”</p><p>“Did you see it? Did you like it?” Bolin perked up.</p><p>“I didn't see it, sorry,” Kira laughed. “But I promise I'll see the next one.”</p><p>“Wait, so you didn't know I was Nuktuck, or a pro-bender when you first met me?”</p><p>“No, why?”</p><p>“No reason,” Bolin said. “Well actually, yeah, wait...why did you like me? I'm so thick headed, I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, I didn't even finish school, everyone says I'm too excitable and my jokes are dumb. And apparently I don't contribute either.”</p><p>“Um...” She glanced over at Mako behind them on the couch. He coughed again. Kira wasn't sure what to say. She remembered what she had told Asami on the beach, and what she had told Mako at the ball, and her face flushed. She reached a hand across the table to rest on top of Bolin's. His green eyes, usually so full of life, were downcast. She hated seeing him like that, and she hated hearing him disparage himself. If only he could see himself how she saw him.</p><p>“The first thing I noticed was how much fun you are. I can't even tell you how many stiff, formal, gold-digging guys I have met in my life.” She ground her teeth at the very thought of those would-be suiters. “And then I saw you at the beach without your shirt off and...”</p><p>Mako started coughing in earnest, and his face was bright red. “I don't need to know this!” he yelped, but Kira ignored him completely.</p><p>“..and I was obviously attracted to you, but when I started to fall in love was when you carried me back to the towels after I tripped. It was the kindest thing anyone has done for me. But your thick head makes you stubborn. And your not going to school has made you resourceful and tough, and I like how excitable you are. It's fun and exciting to be with you. And you're earnest and caring and considerate. You've never tried to do something I wasn't comfortable with in bed. And you saved my life Bolin. I feel safe with you.”</p><p>“Wow. You see all that in me?” Bolin looked around at his brother. “How is that possible?”</p><p>Mako sighed. “That's love Bo,” he said.</p><p>“Gee. Thanks Kira,” He mussed his hair, his cheeks pink and tears shining at the corner of his eyes.</p><p>She stood and went around the table so she could hug him. When he was sitting, it put her at an interesting height advantage, so she added a kiss which started out chaste but soon developed into something more. When Bolin pulled Kira onto his lap, Mako stood up and threw a blanket over them.</p><p>“I still pay the rent here, so knock it off or go to your room!” he said.</p><p>They knocked it off, but not before Kira managed to brush her hand against Bolin's pants, sending him into a frustrated spiral of growls and groans. “Later,” she winked at him as she settled back across the table. “We are going to organize all these bills, make some charts, and then go get you some money!”</p><p>“Yay?” Bolin said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>It took over an hour to get all the papers sorted, and to draw up a schedule with which bills were due when, with little boxes for Mako and Bolin to check each time they paid them. It took a little more time to do all of the figures and addition and projections for how much money Bolin would need to earn in order to be self-supporting either as a pro-bender, a mover star, or whatever job he could figure out. By then the soup was done and eaten, and everyone felt much less tense.</p><p>Kira and Bolin set off to Varrick Industries office to see about getting Bolin some royalties right away.</p><p>“Royalties? ROYALTIES??” Varrick was more excitable and unpredictable than Bolin. He was dressed in a fur-trimmed blue suit, and his eyes were wilder than a pack of wolf-bats at midnight. His assistant stood beside him, stone-faced and practical, a notepad in one hand. He calmed down and sat back in his chair after his moment of outrage was through. Kira didn't react at all to his antics, but Bolin looked nervous.</p><p>“Does the female co-star get royalties?” Kira asked, undeterred by Varrick's ostentatious reaction.</p><p>“Well of course she does, her agent demanded it!”</p><p>“And because Bolin didn't have an agent, you took advantage,” Kira accused, standing her ground. “Bolin considers you a friend, and you used him like a sap. Your big star, your friend, whose likeness is still raking in the cash for you all over the world, isn't getting royalties? Did he sign a contract?”</p><p>“You got yourself a smart one there, Bolin,” Varrick admitted. “And very convincing!”</p><p>“I didn't sign anything!” Bolin said.</p><p>“Did you plan on hiring Bolin for any future projects?” Kira asked.</p><p>“Hmm...well I don't have anything in the works right now, I handed off the whole department to another division of my company. Zhu Li! Get them the information!”</p><p>The assistant stepped forward, wrote something down, and and then ripped off the paper and handed it to Bolin.</p><p>“If you don't have any new roles for Bolin, and you won't give him royalties for his previous work, then I'm afraid he might have to sign on with a competitor. I heard that Republic Studios is starting an adaptation of Li and the Water Lilly of Enchanted Lake and I think Bolin would make an excellent Li, seeing as he has a reputation as a leading man.”</p><p>“Lose my leading man!?” Varrick stood up and paced back and forth. “You drive a hard bargain young lady, has anyone ever told you that you have an eye for business?”</p><p>“She's studying economics at the University here in Republic City!” Bolin interjected.</p><p>“When when you're done, my business department could use a mind like yours! Alright! Zhu Li, get this man a contract and match Ginger's royalties. Backdate the payments from the time of the first Nuktuk mover and then call my studio! Bolin, you're going to be a star again!”</p><p>“Yes sir,” Zhu Li said.</p><p>“What's the role?” Bolin asked, still holding the paper Ju-Li had given him. “If Republic Studios is doing Li and the Water Lilly of Enchanted Lake, then we'll do Hiro and the Poison Temptress of Ember Island! Those books are great kid, you'll be perfect!”</p><p>“Okay!” Bolin jumped up excitedly. “I have a job again!”</p><p>Kira smiled and stood beside him, then bowed deferentially to Varrick. “Thank you sir, for your business.”</p><p>“Yeah yeah, they don't teach negotiation like that that in school. You've got experience."</p><p>“I have a very good mentor,” Kira said mysteriously.</p><p>Varrick laughed. “Well get out of here kids, before you con me out of anything else!”</p><p>And with that, Zhu Li escorted them to the door and closed it firmly behind them. They walked almost mechanically down and out of the building, taking in everything that just happened and not wanting to celebrate just yet. But as soon as they were once again on the streets of Republic City, Bolin jumped up in the air with a whoop of joy. “Yes! You did it!” Kira, beside him, was, pale and clammy and nervous suddenly now that the negotiation was over. That could have gone very differently.</p><p>“I don't know how I did that! I was so nervous and now I feel sick!”</p><p>“You were amazing!” Bolin enveloped her in a hug and then picked her up and twirled her around, which admittedly didn't help with the sick feeling in her stomach, but was still kinda fun. “You got me a job! And royalties! And back pay!” He set her down and kissed her, and Kira let him, taking comfort in his joy, letting his solid warmth quell her trembling and nerves. She melted into him and, like usual, wished that they were somewhere alone where they could celebrate properly together.</p><p>The kiss ended too soon, but Bolin's joy and pride was still shining through. He looked like he could power a city block with his energy. Kira couldn't help but laugh and feel happy too. Bolin was infectious like that.</p><p>“We should celebrate! What do you want to do?”</p><p>“Go back to your place?” Kira said hopefully.</p><p>“Mako is still there. It's his day off. Your place?”</p><p>“My roommate is there too. She's also a student, also on break.”</p><p>They started walking, hand in hand. “Have you ever been to Air Temple Island? Talking to Varrick reminded me that I have some books to return to Tenzin.”</p><p>“I haven't been. But um, will those airbender kids be there? They're kind of a lot.”</p><p>“Yeeeah, but they're much more manageable outdoors, trust me.”</p><p>They swung back by the apartment to get the books then headed over on the ferry to Air Temple Island, which was open to visitors and tourists most days. As soon as they stepped off the boat, they saw Tenzin's children swooping by overhead on their gliders, racing through the sky like birds—except Meelo, who was more like a dizzy wolf bat trying to go in all directions at once.</p><p>“Maybe they won't notice me,” Bolin said hopefully, but as they started up the steps to main Temple where Tenzin's office was, Jinora landed just in front of them, folding her glider primly behind her and smiling.</p><p>“Hello, are you here to see my dad?” She asked.</p><p>“I am! Say, where is your brother?”</p><p>“I'M HERE!” Meelo fell from the sky and landed on Bolin's back like a rabid koala monkey,</p><p>“I was the distraction,” Jinora confessed. “Sorry.”</p><p>Meelo made Bolin drop his books, which Jinora picked up and looked at before handing them back.<br/><br/>“Oh, Li and the Water Lilly of Enchanted Lake. My dad says I'm not allowed to read that one. Can I borrow it Bolin?”</p><p>“Aasdghdggh!” Bolin was fighting off Meelo with both hands, and the boy had somehow managed to take off his shirt and wrap it around Bolin's head.</p><p>“Fight me blind you fiend!” Meelo shouted. “I can take it!”</p><p>Kira looked at Jinora and quirked an eyebrow. “Why would Bolin borrow a romance novel from your dad?” She took the book from Jinora and then looked at the other. “An anatomy guide?” <br/><br/>Comprehension dawned on Kira and her face turned bright pink. “Oh goodness, Tenzin must have been giving Bolin advice on...” She trailed off before she admitted to a 11 year old that her father had been giving Bolin the Sex Talk.</p><p>“On what?” Jinora asked innocently.</p><p>“Um, dating I think.” Kira said. “Dating <em>me.</em>”</p><p>Behind her, Bolin had unwrapped his head and was bending sand up at the shirtless and quickly dodging Meelo, trying to get it down his pants in what would shortly become a trademark move if he wasn't careful.</p><p>“Well it must have been good advice, since you're still together,” Jinora said with a smile. “Come on, they'll be at it for a while. I'll take you to my dad.”</p><p>Kira glanced back at Bolin and Meelo's enthusiastic fight for a moment, then shook her head and followed Jinora into the Temple. It was a beautiful place, and Kira had never been in any of the Air Temples before. Rich oranges and bright whites reflected the light, and the trees and bay were visible from almost every window. As they climbed the steps to the higher levels, the skyline of Republic City itself was visible against the mountains behind it like a beautiful painting.</p><p>“Daddy, Bolin and Kira are here,” Jinora said. “But Bolin and Meelo are fighting.”</p><p>Tenzin stood up and greeted Kira warmly. “Hello, welcome. I'll save Bolin in a few minutes. Is everything alright? What brings you two?”</p><p>“Bolin needed to return some books,” Kira explained. She set them on the desk. “And I wanted to thank you for...helping him. He doesn't have any men in his life that he can trust or talk to about...things. It was very generous of you. And very, um, helpful.” She cleared her throat and looked at the ceiling.</p><p>“I'm glad things are going well.” Tenzin said with genuine smile. “He's a nice young man and has been a good friend to Korra and my family as well. I think Asami's house might have been destroyed if you two hadn't helped keep the kids in line.”</p><p>“I didn't destroy anything,” Jinora protested, but a high-pitched male scream came in through the window and Tenzin sighed.</p><p>“I should probably rescue Bolin,” he said.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Tenzin didn't have to do much to stop his son—he just snatched him by one foot as the boy swooped by on a whirling ball of air and held him at arms distance in front of him, undeterred by the blasts of wind that Meelo continued to bend at everyone, even as several pounds of sand flooded out of his pants. Finally, the boy hung limp by his leg and panted, still angry but no longer struggling.</p><p>“He put sand up my butt!”</p><p>“You put me on top of the Air Temple and then tried to push me off!”</p><p>“Yeah, but you came in here holding hands with my girlfriend!”</p><p>“She's <em>my</em> girlfriend!” Bolin protested.</p><p>“Meelo!” Tenzin snapped. “You're too young to have a girlfriend. I won't allow it. No more fighting with Bolin. I heard that he can lavabend now. In a fair fight you wouldn't stand a chance.”</p><p>“You can lavabend!?” Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo all lit up with excitement, and Tenzin released his son at last.</p><p>“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Tenzin addressed Kira.</p><p>“That would be lovely.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Dinner was, indeed, lovely. The loud family and delicious food made Kira a little bit homesick for her own family, and she wondered if maybe she should have gone back for a visit during the break like her mother had wanted. But then she looked over at Bolin who was listening intently to Ikki talk about 500 words per minute and she was glad that she stayed after all.</p><p>“You two are welcome to stay the night too, if you want,” Pema put in casually, but her wink told Kira everything she needed to know about her real intentions. “There's a really romantic spot at the top of the cliffs on the South-Western Side of the Island that might interest you. No one would bother you up there.”</p><p>“Thank you, that's very kind,” Kira said.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>After dinner, when evening began to fall on the island, Bolin and Kira set off on the path through the trees to the spot that Pema had suggested. It was steep in some places, but Bolin was able to earthbend some steps for Kira as needed to make the climb easier. He seemed to glow with happiness at the way the day had turned out, but honestly, he was almost always in good spirits. Today was just extra.</p><p>“I can see the water!” he said. “This must be the spot!”</p><p>Kira was just a step behind him, and she gasped at the view. The water shimmered with the orange and gold of the setting sun, and the sky around it was like a living fire. Thin whisping clouds painted the sky in a rainbow above, all pointing towards the setting sun on the water.</p><p>“It's beautiful,” Kira sad.</p><p>Bolin used earthbending to make a bench and they sat down together, hand in hand, to watch.</p><p>“I saw the books that you had borrowed from Tenzin.” Kira said gently.</p><p>“Ohhhhh.” Bolin rubbed his hair and looked embarrassed. “Yeah. Those.”</p><p>“It's okay. I get it. You didn't have anyone else to talk to.”</p><p>“Well, Shady Shin told me once...yeah Shady Shin was not a reliable source.”</p><p>“Well now you can talk to me about it. If you have questions about...it.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“So do you?”</p><p>“Other than, 'want to do it?' no...not really.”</p><p>“Yes, please.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Can you bend this bench into a nice smooth surface?”</p><p>“Why...?” Bolin's question trailed off as Kira started unbuttoning her shirt.</p><p>“Pema said no one would bother us here,” Kira said. “That's why.”</p><p>Bolin bent the bench into a nice smooth surface free of sand and dust, and in the fading light of the setting sun, took off his pants. Kira laughed at his quick commitment to the evening's activity, spread his pants on the stone, and pulled him down to sit beside her. It only took a few moments to get the rest of their clothes off. Luckily, the evening was warm. But even so, it felt incredible and strange to be completely naked outdoors, on the edge of the cliff on the edge of an island, as the last bits of sunlight streamed up from behind the horizon. Strange—and thrilling. Kira's heart was beating quickly, and not just from the kisses that Bolin was trailing down her neck. He sucked and bit at the tender skin, her hair blowing all around them. She moved onto him, straddling his lap and wrapping her arms around his strong shoulders. They were tense and flexed as he cradled her waist. The wetness of her slit was directly on the chiseled muscles of his stomach, and his thick erection was sliding against her bottom every time she rocked.  When Bolin kissed her nipple, she moaned and gasped.</p><p>“Lay back,” she said, pushing against his shoulders. Bolin obeyed, until he was flat on the rock and Kira was laying kneeling over him, her legs straddling his, her breasts hanging over his face.</p><p>“This is a much better view than that sun on the water,” Bolin breathed with a smile.</p><p>“I agree,” Kira said. She kissed him on the mouth, gently at first, and then her tongue slipped between his lips. She lowered herself down towards him, grinding herself against his abs, then slowly going lower down until she was aligned with his cock.</p><p>“Should we do it?” Bolin asked. “I don't have protection. I didn't think...the air temple...”</p><p>“I want to,” Kira whispered desperately. There was nothing else in the world right then, except her body and his body, and the aching need inside her. She put her hand between them and guided his tip to her opening. The hot wetness there made them both shudder with lust. Kira pressed down into him a little bit, just to feel him inside her.</p><p>“Can you warn me before you finish? Can you pull it out and finish on my leg or something?”</p><p>“Yeah, I think so,” Bolin said. “Maybe.”</p><p>Kira lowered herself all the way down, down down until he filled her completely, and then sat up and ground her hips into him. There was nothing in the world like that feeling, his whole free self inside her, as deeply as possible. Kira shivered again and rocked forward and backward a few times, just feeling him inside her.</p><p>“This is the sexiest thing I have ever experienced,” Bolin said. “Kira, today is so perfect I...”</p><p>Kira leaned back down, sliding up his cock as she went, and kissed him quiet. “I love you,” she said into his mouth. She braced her hands on either side of his head and rocked on her knees, forward and back, taking him in and out, and at the same time grinding her clitoris against his pubic bone. She felt like her whole body was on fire with pleasure, and Bolin couldn't keep up, he just laid back and let her do it. The pressure was building up inside her, like a kettle getting ready to boil, like the ascent up the hill, the water peeking between the trees.</p><p>“Kira, I'm.... Oh I'm about to finish,” Bolin warned her, but Kira didn't stop, she couldn't really, and the knowledge of his impending orgasm, and then the first pulsing of his cock inside her pushed her over the edge, her own muscles clamping around him, a ragged shout tearing from her throat, tears leaking from her eyes. It was as powerful as a tidal wave and it swept her away just as swiftly. She was helpless do do anything but tremble on top of him, clenching and half-sobbing, her fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulders, her hair hanging in a wild mess around her face.</p><p>Kira sat on top of him for a long moment and neither of them moved. It was fully dark now, the stars starting to come out, the moon shining low and dark, only a sliver of silver, behind them. Slowly, carefully, she moved off of him and lay beside him, her face resting on the crook of his shoulder, her arm splayed over his belly, her legs curled up. She could feel the wetness leaking out of her but she didn't move to clean it up either.</p><p>“I'm sorry,” Kira said slowly, in a small voice.</p><p>“Don't be sorry! That was amazing. That was everything. That was the best ending today could have possibly had.” He rolled over onto his elbow to look at her and she did the same, his eyes dark and glittering in the dimness of the night. He pushed some of her wild, sweaty, and windblown hair out of her face.</p><p>“What if there's a baby? What if we just...” She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his. “That was so dumb Bolin.”</p><p>“Well...” Bolin said slowly, “I didn't really know my dad, but I like to think I'd be a good one.”</p><p>She smiled and wiped a tear from her eyes. “You would be. I know it.”</p><p>“Things will look better in the morning. And now I know for next time...always bring a condom. Even to Air Temple Island.”</p><p>Kira smiled in spite of her worry. “Especially to Air Temple Island.”</p><p>“Things will be fine Kira,” Bolin said. He kissed her forehead. “I'll make sure.”</p><p>They stayed together for a little longer, but then the wind turned chilly. They cleaned up with one of Bolin's sacrificial socks and got dressed, but when Bolin went to put the flat slab of rock back to a collection of small boulders, Kira stopped him.</p><p>“It might be useful for the next couple,” she said, and Bolin could just hear the wicked wink in her voice.</p><p>“What exactly did Pema tell you?” He wondered, but Kira just laughed. They joined hands and made their way down from the cliff on makeshift stairs of bended earth.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Misunderstood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, Kira and Bolin visited Mako at the precinct, hoping that he'd gathered some clues about who had tried to kidnap Kira.</p><p>“It's not that there's no information,” Mako said, a hint of frustration in his voice, “It's that the information we have isn't helpful. The Boulder Gang was hired by someone, but according to their interrogation, they were paid in cash through a blind drop. I looked into your family...” Mako met Kira's eyes for a moment uncomfortably, but Kira remained straight-faced and calm “And it seems likely that given their situation, a ransom attempt is a likely scenario. But who, and why now?”</p><p>“So there's no good leads?” Bolin asked.</p><p>“Well, I started looking at it from another angle. The kinds of people who would go through the trouble of kidnapping a man's daughter while she's away at school might not be doing it for the money. They might be doing it for another reason.”</p><p>He took a copy of a newspaper out of his desk and tucked it under his arm, then looked pointedly at Kira. “Do you have anything you want to tell us?”</p><p>Bolin looked from Mako to Kira in confusion. “Wait, what's going on? Kira?”</p><p>“There was someone who was very much against me coming to Republic City. The mother of my...betrothed.” Kira put her face in her hands as Bolin let out a dramatic gasp. “Yukari and my mother arranged for me to marry Yukari's son Joro, but my father is very much against it, and so am I. Yukari is a terrible person. I think...I think she and my mother might do something like this.”</p><p>Mako handed Bolin the newspaper, in which he had circled the engagement announcement. Bolin looked absolutely crushed.<br/>
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“You're engaged?” Bolin asked, tears in his eyes.</p><p>“No!”</p><p>“I'm just your side piece?” He clutched his chest with his hand and pushed the paper back towards Mako.</p><p>“No! Bolin! I'm never going to marry Joro! He's awful and his family is awful. His mother treats her other daughter-in-laws like slaves and his father is my father's enemy. I came to Republic City to study, and to get away from the drama and the backstabbing and the manipulation.”</p><p>Bolin stood up and turned away. “I think I need a few minutes to think.”</p><p>“They tried to kidnap me! They could have killed me!”</p><p>The precinct went quiet as the people around watched the drama unfold. Bolin walked away, out the door, and into the hallway. Kira cried quietly into her hands.</p><p>“Hey, I'm sorry,” Mako said. He patted her awkwardly on the back. “I was just trying to help. You really should have been honest about what was going on.”<br/>
<br/>
Kira shuddered with a quiet sob. She knew that everyone in the office was looking at her, but she just couldn't pull it together. How could Yukari do this? First the woman announced an engagement that Kira never agreed to, then she kidnapped her, and now she was the reason that Bolin was angry with her. Another thought suddenly struck Kira, and her face paled. She looked at Mako.</p><p>“Oh spirits...” she gasped. “What if I'm pregnant?”</p><p>Mako's eyes went as wide as boulders. “What!?”</p><p>“We...had an accident. What do I do if Bolin leaves me and I'm...” Her tears renewed, and Mako stood up and grabbed his jacket. He helped her to her feet and ushered her out of the office. Everyone was staring at them and whispering in the precinct, but Mako ignored them.</p><p>Once they were out of the building, Kira had mostly calmed down, but she was walking in a daze, hardly looking where she was going, almost crashing into several people.</p><p>“Look Kira, Bolin won't abandon you if you're pregnant. He probably won't even break up with you. He's just hurt and he's a dramatic guy. Let him have his moment and I'm sure that he'll come around. If your...acquaintance is as nasty as she sounds, then I might be able to trace the kidnapping back to her. We don't have any jurisdiction in the Fire Nation, but if she's here in Republic City, I can try to get her convicted. It will be hard to force you to marry her son if she's in jail. Do you think you can contact your family and find out if they know anything?”</p><p>“Maybe...” Kira said, but her thoughts were not on the kidnapping. “Are you sure about Bolin?” Kira asked. She leaned on him slightly, her vision still fuzzy from tears. “I don't know how I can live without him.”</p><p>“He's not the only dramatic one,” Mako muttered, but then he sighed. “I'm sure Bolin wouldn't abandon you. And if you just had one accident...well you're probably fine. You could go to the healers at the clinic and they could tell you for certain.”</p><p>“I wish Bolin could go with me,” her eyes teared up again.</p><p>“Talk to him Kira,” Mako suggested. “He's a reasonable guy.” He glanced back up at the building behind him. “I have to get back to work. Will you be okay? Should I call Korra or Asami to walk you home?”</p><p>“No, I”m okay,” Kira lied. Her heart felt like it had been smashed under a boulder, and she clasped her hands to keep them from trembling.</p><p>Mako frowned. “No, you're not.” He glanced up at the building. “Work can wait. I'm not leaving you alone.” </p><p>Kira didn't protest, she just followed Mako through the busy streets, hating her circumstances, her heart, and most especially her poor choices. Why had she thought that she could just forget about her family and life in the Fire Nation once she got to Republic City? She was so excited about studying at the University, so enthralled with Bolin that she shoved everything aside...and now it was crashing back down on her. But at the same time why would Bolin think she had any interest in a guy whose mother tried to kidnap her, no matter what the announcement in the newspaper said?</p><p>Mako was awkward but vigilant. He didn't offer any platitudes or advice, but he paused subtly and glanced down every alleyway just a few steps ahead of Kira. It wasn't far to her apartment and no one attacked them on the way. Kira managed to mumble a thank you to Mako and he nodded a silent goodbye.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Mako didn't go straight to the precinct, however. Kira's haunted, heartbroken eyes stayed with him, so he went home first to confront his brother.</p><p>“Bolin, that girl was wrecked when you left like that. Can you imagine how she feels, alone in Republic City, someone trying to kidnap her, possibly pregnant <em>because of you</em>, and you just walk out on her? How could you? And did you even think about her condition? What was the point of talking to Tenzin? Are you some horny teenager still who can't keep it in his pants? She doesn't deserve that. She idolizes you, who knows why, and you treat her like crap!”</p><p>“I'm sorry,” Bolin said miserably. He had snot running down his nose and his eyes were full of tears.</p><p>“Don't apologize to me! Grow up! Go to her apartment and make it right.”</p><p>“I didn't even think about her condition, or the baby. Oh my god. What if she thinks I don't want the baby? What if she's in danger?”</p><p>“Yeah, <em>thinking</em> is obviously not your strong suit Bolin.” Mako said angrily with his arms crossed.</p><p>“You're so mean!” Bolin cried.</p><p>“Well you're so dumb!” Mako shouted. “Nobody is perfect. Not you or me, not Korra, not Asami, not Tenzin or Beifong and of course not Kira either.” Mako turned to the door. “I have to get back to work. But you have a decision to make. You can grow up and deal with this, or you can get out and fend for yourself. I'm done supporting your lazy, immature ass Bolin. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and think about the people around you for once.”</p><p>Mako left and slammed the door behind him, leaving Bolin as a crying lump on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Kira opened the door to Asami's soft knock. She opened it dressed in a fluffy robe, her face red and blotchy, a box of tissues under one arm. Asami, as usual, looked perfect. Her long black hair curled in waves over her shoulder, and her make up was immaculate.</p><p>“Oh. Hi,” Kira said.</p><p>“Hey. Mako said you could use a friend. Can I come in?”</p><p>“Sure. I was hoping...”</p><p>“You were hoping Bolin would come by?” Asami said. She ushered her friend to the kitchen and started making tea.</p><p>“Yes.” Kira said, her eyes downcast.</p><p>“What happened?” Asami asked. She pulled a chair around so that she could sit beside her friend, one arm over Kira's shoulders. Kira filled her in on the basics, everything from Yukari and Joro to the accident and Mako's discovery of the announcement.</p><p>Asami pursed her lips thoughtfully. “This sounds like classic Bolin overreacting. He freaks out over the smallest things sometimes—not that a pregnancy scare or a kidnapping attempt is a small thing. He's lovable but dense.”</p><p>“It seemed like a big freakout to me. I keep imagining the worst..a baby with no father, no job, losing my spot at the university, my family disowning me, no place to live...”</p><p>“Now <em>you're</em> freaking out,” Asami said kindly. “You can always stay with me, I have plenty of room. I'll hire a nanny if you need one so you can continue at school. And even if Bolin were a total idiot and broke up with you (which he's not) he would still be a father, like it or not.” Asami shrugged. “I know that everything feels bleak, but...one accident like that doesn't mean you're definitely pregnant. The chances are actually pretty small.”</p><p>“But there's still a chance.”</p><p>“Yeah, there's still a chance.”</p><p>Asami poured their tea and they two young women sat and drank it in thoughtful silence. When their cups were empty, Asami spoke again.<br/>
<br/>
“If you're comfortable with it, I could ask Korra do to a healing on you. She could find out if you <em>are</em> pregnant or not, if you don't want to wait for your cycle.”</p><p>“She can do that?”</p><p>“I think so,” Asami said. “It's one of the services offered at the healers clinic, so I'd guess she could.”</p><p>“Yeah, I would like that. Thanks.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>It didn't take Korra long at all to arrive, and she blew into the apartment like a force of nature. The somber, quiet atmosphere was immediately replaced by a bright, lively energy. “I'm going to kill Bolin,” Korra growled. “Men are the <em>worst</em>.” She blustered around like an angry dragon, the tension in her muscular shoulders obvious.</p><p>“That's not helpful love,” Asami said, calming her girlfriend with a gentle touch.</p><p>“And it wasn't like it was all his fault,” Kira said with a flush rising in her cheeks. “I was...um...I was on top. He tried to warn me...we didn't have protection because we weren't at home so...” She sighed and put her face in her hands.</p><p>“Wait, where were you?” Korra demanded, her blue eyes wide with interest and fascination.</p><p>“Korra! She doesn't have to tell us all that if she doesn't want to.” Asami looked pointedly at Korra. “That is not why we are here.”</p><p>Korra grumbled, but Kira shook her head and tumbled out the whole story, starting with their conversation with Varrick and ending with Pema's tip about the cliff on the southwestern edge of the island.</p><p>“We'll have to go up there,” Korra mused, but Asami smacked her lightly on the arm. “Focus!”</p><p>“Okay, fine.” Korra said, smiling at Asami. “So you got up there, didn't have a condom, did it anyway, and then he tried not to make his mess inside you but between the emotions and feelings and you being on top, he popped his cork and splurged in there anyway.”</p><p>Korra's descriptive assessment made Asami's face green and Kira's bright red.</p><p>“Basically yes, but much more romantic,” Kira said.</p><p>“I don't get how anyone can find Bolin romantic,” Korra said with a shake of her head, causing Asami to smack her arm again.</p><p>“He's usually more fun than romantic,” Kira admitted. “But that night was really special. Even if we did make a baby, I it would have been worth it...but now I've gone and ruined everything by lying about my stupid mother's stupid betrothal plan.”</p><p>“Everything is not ruined,” Asami asserted firmly. “And it's not your fault that your mother is insane. You're not the only one with parents who don't have their kids best interest in mind.”</p><p>Kira nodded and then turned to the Avatar, who was leaning against the table, her arms crossed casually. Korra had always been nice enough to Kira, but she was also a bit intimidating. “Can you use healing to tell if I'm pregnant?” she asked.</p><p>“I think so,” Korra said. She thrummed her fingers against her chin for a moment. “I've never actually tried it before, but I understand the theory. Sit up on the table and take off your shirt.” </p><p>“Careful Korra, I might get jealous,” Asami said, her lashes lowered. Korra just laughed and went to the sink to get some water for bending. She formed it into a globe and then sent it to wrap around Kira's midsection. Kira was expecting it to be a shock of cold, but the water was pleasantly warm. It soon began to glow, and Korra closed her eyes. A strange tingling sensation spread through Kira as the Avatar worked on her, and her eyes suddenly didn't feel so tired and dry, and the tense aching in her back relaxed. She felt refreshed and calm, like she'd just taken a nice luxurious bath. It was wonderful. After a few minutes of this, Korra withdrew the water and sent it back into the sink and down the drain. She frowned thoughtfully as Kira and Asami waited with bated breath.</p><p>“I didn't feel any baby,” she said finally, and Kira sagged with relief. “But it also could be too early to tell. I mean, I didn't feel any additional heartbeat, which is basic midwifery, but I also didn't feel any doubled life force or extra energy around you.”</p><p>“How certain are you?” Asami asked.</p><p>“About 90%,” Korra said. “But if you don't get your cycle when you're supposed to, I can check again. When is it due?”</p><p>“In a week or so,” Kira said. She touched her stomach and found that it was totally dry, Korra having bended every bit of the water away. She put began to put on her shirt and button it up when there was a knock at the door.</p><p>“Want me to kill him for you?” Korra asked brightly. She cracked every knuckle and beamed with excited expectation.</p><p>“No!” Asami said. She opened the door and no one was surprised to see a very downtrodden Bolin standing there, his hands in his pockets and his eyes aimed at the floor.</p><p>“We should go,” Asami said to Korra, who limited herself to shooting daggers at Bolin through her eyes. He backed up a few inches to let her by, but she shoulder checked him anyway.</p><p>“Let us know if you need anything,” Asami said as she left. Bolin shuffled in and the door closed behind him, and they were alone. Kira was still sitting on the table, buttoning up her shirt.</p><p>“I'm sorry,” Bolin said first, miserable. “I just want you to know I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you there like that, I just...I just freaked out. I was thinking about me, but I should have been thinking about you. How it must suck to have a mom who would go behind your back and betrothe you to someone you don't like. How a guy maybe gets you pregnant and then takes a hike the second he finds out something he doesn't like about your past. How hard you must have worked to get here to Republic City, the the university, to make something other than a wife of yourself.”</p><p>Kira watched and listened, but she didn't answer. Bolin stepped forward tentatively. “If you are pregnant, or if you're not, I'm here and I love you. If you marry Joro or go back to the Fire Nation or join the circus, I'll still love you. If you decide I messed up too badly and you never want to see me again, I'll be heartbroken, but I'll still love you.”</p><p>“Bolin,” Kira sighed and held out her hands to him. He grabbed then and knelt down on one knee.</p><p>“Kira, will you marry me?”</p><p>“Bolin!” Kira pulled him to his feet. “I'm not pregnant. Most likely not, according to Korra's healing senses.”</p><p>“Oh.” Bolin stood up. “But that doesn't answer my question.”</p><p>“I know. I can't answer it. I don't know. We've only been together for a few months and this is our first fight. Getting engaged won't solve anything.”</p><p>“But...” Bolin started to protest but quickly stopped and sighed. “You're right, of course.”</p><p>“And I'm sorry for my part in this fight.” Kira said, staring at the floor between them. “For concealing information about my past, my family, my enemies. It was wrong and I'm sorry.”</p><p>“Okay.” Bolin took in a deep breath. “So now what? We go back to how it was before?”</p><p>“Not back,” Kira said. She pulled Bolin towards her until he was standing between her legs, looking down at her, forehead to forehead. His green eyes were still slightly glassy with tears, and his face was blotchy, but he was no less handsome to her. “We go forward. From here. Because I love you. And even if you ran off and left me pregnant and alone...well, at least, pregnant and living with Asami and Korra and a nanny...I would still love you.” She sighed and added, “Maybe I'm the thick-headed one after all.”</p><p>“I'd be too scared to even visit you in that case,” Bolin said. “I think Korra was really ready to kick my ass back there. Even with lavabending I don't think I could take her in a fight.”</p><p>Kira leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist, and Bolin did likewise. She could hear the thumping of his heart in his chest and smell his sweat and shampoo. She trailed her fingers through the hairs at the base of his neck, just breathing him in. Once the humor was gone, and the tears and the accusations and the bizarre marriage proposals, there was just the two of them, in love, forgiven.</p><p>“So no baby.” Bolin said finally. “Is it weird that I'm kinda relieved and kinda sad?”</p><p>“I feel the same way,” Kira let him out of the hug and sat up, feeling her flat stomach. “It's strange to think that something so simple as...'a splurge' as Korra put it, could make a baby.”</p><p>“You told Korra!?”</p><p>“Of course! I had to tell her so she could do her waterbender healing thing and tell me if I was pregnant. She said she was 90% sure that it's a no.”</p><p>“And Asami?”</p><p>“Yeah, she knows too.”</p><p>“And Mako, of course. But I tell him everything, so...”</p><p>“You tell Mako everything? Everything we do?” She scrunched up her face.</p><p>“No! Not like, the details. Just the general updates. He keeps telling me not to tell him though.”</p><p>“Well Asami and Korra really wanted to know. I don't normally tell them anything, but this situation was difficult. They were trying to blame you and I needed to tell them how it happened, really.”</p><p>“You defended me? Wow, I seriously don't deserve you,” Bolin groaned, but Kira kissed his forehead.“It wasn't your fault. We both wanted it, and I wouldn't take it back if I could.”</p><p>“Really?” Bolin asked.</p><p>“Really.” Kira said. Bolin leaned in to kiss her and she met him halfway, their lips and breath mingling. It was a gentle, slow kiss, a forgiveness kiss, a love kiss. If they had learned anything, it was that these moments were more fleeting and special than they had ever thought before.</p><p>Kira ran her hands up Bolin's strong, tensed forearms, then pulled him even closer in to her, guiding his hands up and under her shirt. She wanted him, desperately, as if he was going to disappear at any moment. And he wanted her, to show her how much he loved her, to bring her to the brink again and make her gasp and squirm with feeling.</p><p>His hands snaked up her shirt and under the brassiere to fondle and caress, her nipples hard points already under his care. The kiss became more intense as well, tongues darting and lips sucking. Kira undid Bolin's pants and slipped a hand down inside to feel his throbbing erection in her hand. The next thing she knew, her own skirt was hitched up above her knees, her panties were on the floor, and she slid her bottom to the edge of the table.</p><p>“Wait!” Bolin stopped and fumbled through his pocket. He got out the condom and neatly slipped it on. “Okay Go.” Kira smiled and slid forward until he was pressed up against her opening. Bolin thrust forward into her, slowly, groaning. Kira wrapped her legs around his waist and lay down, her back flat on the table, her arms clutching at his. Bolin breathed deeply and bent over her, using his legs to thrust even further in.</p><p>“Do it hard and fast,” Kira said, her eyes closed and her breath ragged. “I want to you to take me <em>hard</em>.”</p><p>“Are you sure?” Bolin asked, but he was sweating with the effort to hold back.</p><p>“I need more,” Kira moaned. Bolin kissed her hard on the mouth and thrust again, hard, and again and again, pounding into her for all he was worth. Kira encouraged him, pulling at his arms and digging her fingernails into his back, raising her hips to meet him and squeezing with her legs. “Harder!” She moaned. The table shook and rocked with the force of their thrusting.</p><p>It didn't take long though. Bolin gave a massive shout and slammed into her, his cock pulsing, his orgasm gripping him. He thrust again slowly but hard, the last bits of his orgasm still pulsing through him. Kira squeezed, then reached between them and rubbed her clitoris hard, pulsing her hips against him.<br/>
<br/>
“Don't move,” she commanded, and so Bolin stayed, panting over her, buried inside her, kissing her breasts and sucking on her nipples until she spasmed with a long, guttural breath and moan that made <em>him</em> shiver at the satisfaction of it. She idly continued to rub herself, shuddering every now and then, squeezing herself around Bolin's rapidly deflating cock.</p><p>“Did we just have make-up sex?” Kira asked, her voice was raw and her eyes were still closed.</p><p>“Yeah,” Bolin said. “I think we did. On your kitchen table.”</p><p>“Okay.” Kira gasped. “We can fight more often. That was amazing.”</p><p>Bolin chuckled against her, which caused his cock to flop out of her, which caused <em>her</em> to laugh. “I think I prefer the rock on the cliff, honestly.”</p><p>A shout from Kira's roomate's room snapped them out of the post-sex daze, however.</p><p>“This isn't working! You need to move out!” Hitori shouted, her voice muffled by the closed door</p><p>Kira gasped. “I forgot she was home! Oops.”</p><p>“Now that I have a job again, maybe we should get our own place.” Bolin suggested.</p><p>Kira kissed him again. “Maybe you're the smart one,” she said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh boy, nobody can tell it like it is like a sibling can! Angry Mako is my favorite Mako.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Anatomy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning!! Period sexy times. Skip to after the first asterisks if you don't want to read that! It's not super intense in my opinion, but warning just in case. To each their own kink etc.</p><p>There's lots of drama in this chapter, and its longer than most of the others. Also I'm on chapter 14 of 12 right now and still trying to wrap things up...so buckle up! Still putting about one smut scene in each chapter, because that's the true reason for this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Getting their own place turned out to be a little bit complicated. Even with his back-royalties payments, Bolin couldn't afford a very nice place, and Kira's apartment budget, furnished by her father, was allotted for student housing which didn't allow for live-in boyfriends. The ended up pooling their resources with Mako and getting a nice three-bedroom so that Kira had a private place to study. It even had a little balcony overlooking the park, and was equidistant between the university and the precinct.</p><p>One evening as they were breaking in their new shared double bed in Bolin's room, Bolin let out a shriek of panic. “Kira you're bleeding!” He held up his hand, which had been in her underwear and inching towards her center only moments before. It was bright red.</p><p>Kira flopped back onto the bed and sighed. “Oh thank goodness!”</p><p>“What? Why? Are you alright?”</p><p>“Bolin, I thought you read that anatomy book. It's my cycle.”</p><p>“Well, I read chapter seven. The one that explained like, sex stuff.”</p><p>She propped herself up on her elbows. “Didn't it talk about women's organs and cycles and stuff?”</p><p>“Maybe? I only really paid attention to the part about like...where the penis is supposed to go.”</p><p>Kira sighed. “Okay. Let's go to the shower and I'll give you an anatomy lesson.”</p><p>As soon as they were naked in the shower, hot water sluicing over them, they started kissing, and soon discovered that it wasn't quite as easy to make love in the shower as they had imagined. Their height difference made it particularly difficult. Kira's long dark hair got in Bolin's mouth every time he tried to kiss her neck or breasts, and water went straight up Kira's nose every time she tried to lean up and kiss Bolin. The small shower wasn't all bad, however. When they paused the kissing to actually get clean, the confined space was actually kind of nice. It meant that Kira's breasts brushed against Bolin's chest when she reached for the soap, and that his erection pressed into her stomach when he moved over to rinse his hair. Bolin had even optimistically brought a condom into the shower, perched in easy reach on the little shelf with the soap.</p><p>Kira liked how her hands were able to slip up and down Bolin's broad back, feeling the contour and flexing of every muscle as he moved. Bolin liked to watch the water pool between her breasts when her arms were pressed together, making him throb with a need to touch her and kiss her everywhere. When they were clean enough, Kira moved her hands to his cock and started stroking it. “Should I...get the protection?” Bolin asked, his voice raspy as he suppressed a groan of pleasure.</p><p>“No, just turn off the water so I don't drown,” Kira said. Bolin obliged as Kira dropped to her knees, putting her right at the perfect height to take his entire length into her mouth. Warm and wet and thick, Kira struggled to get it all in. One hand grasped the base firmly, the other went to her own groin to stroke herself. Bolin didn't protest or move a single muscle, he just kind of squeaked a little in surprise and closed his eyes.</p><p>Kira pulled back, dragging her tongue along the bottom of his shaft as she went. With the shower off, the sound of her mouth on his cock was suddenly loud, and it made Bolin even more turned on. His breathing sped up as he tried to control himself, and Kira responded by flicking her tongue across the salty dripping head of his cock. Her lips pursed around the end, and then she slid the whole thing back in, all the way to the back of her throat, nearly gagging. Bolin's hand trembled where it rested gently on her shoulder and he squeaked again. “Kira, oh spirits Kira, I'm so close.”</p><p>“Good,” Kira said. Her own breathing was fast and she could feel herself getting closer as well. She wanted him to feel the need, the pulsing, building pressure. She slowly, so slowly, moved her lips down his shaft, taking him him. Her hand at the base of his cock squeezed, her tongue drew a line along the underside, the big vein there like a trail for her to follow. Bolin gasped and tensed, and his hips bucked involuntarily as he came, a seeping flood of seed filling Kira's mouth. She kept him inside her as he finished, shaking and pulsing, his whole body tensed like a mountain about to crumble in an earthquake. When he was done, Kira very unromantically spit out the glob of seed into the drain, stood up, and turned the shower back on.<br/>
<br/>
“Holy...crap,” Bolin gasped. “Did you?”</p><p>“No,” Kira said with a laugh. "It kinda surprised me, even though I knew it was going to happen." </p><p>“Can I try kissing you down there...” he put his hand down to her groin, and made like he was going to kneel down and reciprocate, but was puzzled when he saw the stream of red blood still running down her leg.</p><p>“Wait, you're still bleeding?” Bolin asked, his face blank and confused. “I thought we cleaned it up.”</p><p>“Bolin, it lasts for like five days.” Kira said, exasperated.</p><p>“Five days!?”</p><p>“Sometimes longer,” Kira said.</p><p>Bolin was aghast. “Well how can we...how can you...”</p><p>Kira sighed and wrapped her arms around him. “Every single woman deals with this every single month around the world. It's a woman's monthly cycle. It only stops if she gets pregnant, and the blood goes to nourish the baby instead.”</p><p>“Why didn't I know about this? Every month?” Bolin asked. “Every woman? Asami and Korra? Beifong?”</p><p>“Well I don't know how old Chief Beifong is...it stops permanently after a woman is too old to bear children. But Korra and Asami yes.”</p><p>Bolin's mind was blown. “I can't believe this,” he said.</p><p>“I'd rather if we work on figuring out how to help me finish...” Kira said. “Is it too weird to touch me with the blood? Are you squeamish?”</p><p>“No...it's not much different from your regular...stuff. A bit thinner I guess. If you're okay with it...” He reached down and gently slipped a finger inside her. Kira lifted one leg and hooked it over his waist.</p><p>“Oh, yes,” She held onto him with one arm and moved his other hand to her clitoris, his large rough fingers like fire against her. She was already aroused from the previous activity, and the feel of his hands on her was excruciatingly better than when she touched herself.</p><p>“More?” Bolin asked. He kissed her, ignoring the water pouring into his ear, and slid another finger inside her. Kira groaned against him, her lips turning furious as they sucked at his, her hand urging him to stroke her more quickly, harder. She bucked her hips against his fingers that were inside her and tensed. Her thighs pressed his hand uncomfortably hard and the planes of her stomach tensed with effort. Bolin never stopped rubbing her clitoris until she gasped into his mouth and pulsed around him, stopping him with her hands and clenching again and again around his fingers in an orgasm that went on and on in long waves like ripples on a pond. Kira sighed out a long, relaxed breath and put her leg down so that she could lean against him. She loved the contrast between his strong, confident fighting self and his tender, respectful sexual self. Bolin never forced her, never shamed her, never said no.</p><p>“Sometime, when this cycle is over, I want to try to make you finish by kissing you down there,” Bolin said.</p><p>Kira smiled. “Deal.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>After the move, classes resumed, Bolin began working at the studio on Varrick's next film, and life took up a normal routine. They had Korra and Asami over for dinner once a week, they went ice-skating after the first big freeze of the winter, and attended Meelo's birthday party on Air Temple Island with almost no disasters. The only drama happened when a curious Jinora followed Asami and Korra up to the flat rock on the cliff and discovered that the two women were more than friends.</p><p>There were no more kidnapping attempts or accidents, and everything was swell...Until Kira's mother arrived in Republic City. She brought with her a retinue of servants and a young man named Joro. </p><p>Kira was unaware of her mother's arrival until the tall, stern woman threw open the door to the apartment as soon as Mako answered the booming knock. She stood in all her finery, hair slicked back into a traditional bun, her robes that looked like something out of a history book, and an angry glint in her sparking amber eyes.</p><p>“Where is my daughter!” She demanded. Mako's eyes were wide, his hands halfway into a firebending stance, and he looked over at Kira who was sitting at the table surrounded by a pile of books.</p><p>“Mother!” Kira jumped up. “What are you doing here?”</p><p>From behind her, a young man stepped forward. He was tall and not bad-looking, with a long face and long black hair pulled into a bun, and a short nicely trimmed goatee framing his face. He too wore traditional robes. But the most notable thing about him was his dark scowl.</p><p>“We are here for your wedding!” Kira's mother said firmly. “I have heard about this boy you are seeing, some Earthbending lowlife scum, and I refuse to see my daughter corrupted and lost!” Her eyes honed in on Mako and narrowed dangerously.</p><p>“Are you him? This 'Bolin' that I've heard about? You don't look like much of an Earthbender.”</p><p>Mako stood up straight and narrowed his eyes right back at her. He didn't drop his firebending stance.</p><p>“What's going on out here?” Bolin suddenly appeared, as if summoned. He had just gotten out of the shower and his hair was wet. Nothing but a towel was slung around his waist, and his toothbrush was hanging out of his mouth, foam dripping down his chin.</p><p>Everyone in the room froze, and then Mako slapped his forehead.</p><p>“Go get dressed Bolin!”</p><p>“Yeaaaaah. Okay,” Bolin backed away, back into the bathroom and shut the door promptly.</p><p>“Does father know you're here?” Kira demanded. She scrambled out from behind the table to face her mother. “You know how he feels about Joro, and your stupid scheme with Yukari!”</p><p>“Is <em>that</em> him!?” Kira's mother pointed angrily at the door behind which Bolin had disappeared. “That naked oaf!?” She looked around the apartment. “Do you live in this shabby little abode with these horrible men!?”</p><p>“Hey!” Bolin reappeared, fully dressed with his hands on his hips. “That's not very nice!”</p><p>Kira stepped up, her face red and furious. “Get out! You have no power over me! You can't make me go and you can't make me marry Joro!” Her face was red, but she stood her ground. If her mother had been a demon instead of a woman, she might have been cowed by such a forceful exorcism. But alas, Kira's words only made her mother even more angry.</p><p>“No power?” Kira's mother smiled slowly, a smile that made all the young people, including Joro, shiver. “We will see Kira. I think you'll find I can make your life very difficult indeed. How would you feel if you were suddenly dropped from all of your classes? If your spending stipend dried up? If your naked oaf suddenly met with some kind of accident?”</p><p>Kira's face paled, but Mako and Bolin stepped up together, getting between Kira and her mother.</p><p>“I'm a detective for the Republic City Police, and I <em>will</em> go on the record and report these threats to the chief of police, Lin Beifong.” Mako said firmly.</p><p>“And I'm Bolin and I love Kira!” Bolin added unhelpfully.</p><p>Kira's mother narrowed her eyes until they were angry, glinting slits. Her mouth curved downward into an unpleasant grimace.</p><p>“You can't prove anything,” the woman said. She swooped around, flinging her robes in an elegant about-face, and left. Joro followed morosely behind, and shut the door behind them.</p><p>Everyone else let out a breath. Kira collapsed onto the floor, her face red and her eyes full of tears. Bolin went to her and helped her up, over to the couch to sit with him.</p><p>“I've never stood up to her like that before,” Kira admitted. “Something in me just...exploded. I couldn't bear the thought of her telling me what to do anymore.”</p><p>“You should call the university administrators and block her from dropping your classes,” Mako advised seriously. “And I'll report the threat of violence but honestly it probably won't do much.”</p><p>“And I'm making enough from my movers to pay your part of the rent if she cuts you off,” Bolin said.</p><p>“Okay,” Kira was miserable, but she curled up on the couch beside Bolin and rested her head on his chest and felt marginally better.</p><p>“Also she is super rude!” Bolin commented. “Is she always like that?”</p><p>“No, only when one of us gets out of line. Like when my second oldest brother decided he wanted to be a musician instead of going into politics. This is my mom in war mode. Growing up she was mostly pleasant, though very traditional.”</p><p>Bolin held her close for a moment, but they both knew that there were things to be done.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Bolin waited outside the building while Kira went up to talk to the woman in charge of Kira's school accounts. The university administrator was looking at Kira as if she were crazy. “Your mother...wants you to get married and so threatened to drop all of your classes for the term? That's not really something she can do. You're account is paid in full for the next three years by a Mr. Takawa.”</p><p>“My father. He supports my education.”</p><p>The woman smiled. “Then you have nothing to worry about. I'll make a note here that you and <em>only</em> you are allowed access to your school files and accounts.”</p><p>Kira sagged with relief. Her schooling, at least, was safe. She said a polite goodbye the administrator and opened the office door. This had been a hell of a day, and she couldn't wait to be safely back at home with Bolin. She wasn't even looking as she walked down the long hallway towards the stairs.</p><p>The second she entered the stairwell, however, someone grabbed her from behind. She twisted and tried to fire off one of those punches that Bolin had taught her, but her wrists were caught. Something went over her mouth and suddenly she couldn't breath. She tried to call out for help, but her voice came out as a muffled yell and she was falling into darkness.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>Kira awoke in a hotel room, with people talking nearby. The voices were raised and angry. Then a door slammed and it was quiet. She fluttered her eyes open and looked around.</p><p>“You're awake,” Joro commented. He was seated on a couch opposite her, his hands and feet bound. Kira tried to sit up, but found that hers were as well.</p><p>“What is going on?” Kira said. She felt a moment of overwhelming panic, but she fought it down. No negotiations were ever successful if one acted in panic. She had to think clearly and act decisively. “Where are we?”</p><p>“The hotel, I think. Our mothers are arguing with the sage they brought to marry us. Apparently he also thinks it is a bad idea to marry two unconsenting young people.”</p><p>“So you're against this as well?” Kira asked. Joro raised his eyebrows and his bound hands.</p><p>“Obviously.”</p><p>“They can't do this. If we don't say the vows, they can't force us. And if they force us to say the vows with knives to our throats, they are invalid. I don't know what Yukari and my mother think they are doing!”</p><p>She seethed in frustration and struggled against her bonds, but the rope was thick and tied expertly. Neither she nor Joro were benders. They seemed to be out of options. Deep down, she hoped that Bolin and Mako would track her down and rescue her. Surely Bolin would have noticed when she didn't come back out after her meeting at the University. He couldn't be too far off her trail.</p><p>Before she could get her hopes too far up, her mother and Yukari burst into the room. “We have him!” Yukari said to her son. She was a short, plump woman and extremely beautiful. “We have Taki.”</p><p>Joro's face paled. “I don't believe you. You could never capture him! He's a firebender in the royal guard. How...”</p><p>She showed him a photograph of a handsome young man, his face clearly visible, his arms wrapped around...around Joro. It wasn't clear in the photo that this embrace was more than just fraternal, though it wasn't clearly Joro in the photo unless you had known Joro for most of your life as Kira had. She blinked at her old frenemy, surprised by the revelation. This just made his mother's plan to marry him off to Kira even more horrible.</p><p>“If you don't cooperate, I will send this photo to his father, and his guard captain, and anyone else who might be interested. He will be fired, disowned, and dishonored.”</p><p>Joro gritted his teeth, anger and humiliation apparent in his sharp features. “Disowned maybe, but Captain Ishi wouldn't care. She already knows.”</p><p>Yukari pursed her lips and put the photograph back into a pocket of her robes. “Be as that may, I want you to consider the consequences carefully and weigh your options. You cooperate here, marry Kira and be my good little heir in public, and I can make sure that you and Taki can meet discretely for as long as you wish to pursue this foolish dalliance.”</p><p>“Until you think of something else you want from me,” Joro spat at his mother, but something of the fight went out of him.</p><p>“As for you Kira, it's just a matter of time before we find your Earthbender peasant and take care of him. Once he's gone, you will have no obstacles at all.”</p><p>Kira tensed and looked at her mother, who was watching with her arms folded across her chest. “You'll never take him, he's a pro-bender and friends with the Avatar.”</p><p>“We don't have to take him,” Kira's mother said. “I'm sure he'll be here soon.”</p><p>Kira put her chin up, trying to maintain her dignity. Joro looked morosely at her. “Maybe it's best if we cooperate,” he suggested.</p><p>“I won't. Not ever.” Kira felt tears brimming in her eyes, and she tried to stop them, embarrassed by her emotional reaction. If Joro was going along with it, then she'd lost her only possible ally in the room. Where was her father? Surely he wouldn't have just let her mother come here to Republic City and do this if he knew. Where was Bolin? How long did it take for him and Mako to find the hotel?</p><p>“That's too bad for your boyfriend.” Yukari said. “And I don't think he'll be willing to fight for you once he sees the photos.”</p><p>“What photos?”</p><p>Kira's mother motioned to the camera set up on a stand at one end of the room. “Pictures akin to the one of Taki and Joro, of course,” she said. “We thought up all the angles Kira. You can't get out of it so you might as well just accept it. If you go through with this marriage, you can stay here and finish your studies. Your boyfriend is out of danger, free to live his peasant life on his own and find someone more suitable. Or, we can make Bolin think you cheated on him...or have him killed. I'll make sure you never set foot on the university grounds again, and there will be no more money either.”</p><p>“Doesn't seem to be a hard choice,” Yukari said. “Now stand up.”</p><p>Joro stood, but Kira had to be hauled to her feet by her wrists, which burned against the ropes. Yukari shoved Kira over to the camera and positioned an uncomfortable but cooperative Joro beside her. Kira's mother arranged Kira's shirt to be just so slightly undone, which made Kira turn bright red with anger. Kira thought it couldn't get any worse, but then her mother cut the ropes binding Joro's hands and forced them into a mockery of an embrace. Joro shifted uncomfortably, but he let her position him as if he was a doll. It was a violation beyond even kidnapping and drugging her. Tears streaked down Kira's cheeks, which her mother wiped away with a sigh.<br/>
<br/>
“Alright Joro,” Yukari commanded. “Kiss her!”</p><p>Kira was helpless, tied up, propped up, violated. Joro pressed his lips awkwardly against hers as she clamped her jaw shut. There was a brights burst of light, and the photo was done. But that wasn't all. When she opened her eyes and looked to the window, Bolin and Mako's surprised faces were there, looking in. Suddenly, the wall burst in and the two brothers were there. Bolin and Mako leapt off of the pillar of Earth that Bolin had used to get them up to the 5<sup>th</sup> floor and Mako began firebending a defensive ring of flames around them, working their way towards a coughing and dust-covered Kira.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Bolin asked. He cut the ropes on her wrist, but was distracted by a team of firebenders who had just burst in through the door. Mako engaged them, but he was outnumbered. “I have to help, Get to the window...or where the window used to be and wait for me!”</p><p>Kira undid the ropes on her feet and scrambled over to the hole in the wall, but not too close. She could see the street below and the crowd of curious onlookers pointing. It sure was a long way down. Mako and Bolin were making their way back towards her, holding off the attackers in their long-practiced pro-bending style. Bolin jabbed bits of rock and brick at them, and Mako kept them from getting close with a series of fast bursts of flames from his fists.</p><p>Bolin made it back first, then Mako. Kira hung onto Bolin's shoulders and closed her eyes before he leapt, holding her, across the gap to his Earth pillar jutting up from the sidewalk. Mako hopped on without a thought, and then Joro's face was suddenly there, stark white and terrified of all the fighting. “Let me come with you!” He shouted. Kira nodded at Mako and the older brother grabbed Joro and pulled him onto the platform. With a shout and a narrow miss of the enemy firebenders, Bolin's platform withdrew quickly towards the ground. Mako had cut the ropes tying Joro's feet and within seconds they were all on the run.</p><p>“Where to now? Home? Asami's house? Air Temple Island?” Bolin asked, panting. They had run four blocks through the crowded evening streets and seemed to have lost their pursuers. They were hiding in an alley behind a dumpster. Kira didn't answer, she just threw her arms around him and kissed him thoroughly.</p><p>“Now's not the time!” Mako snapped, and Kira let Bolin go. She took a second to compose herself, then addressed the three young men seriously.</p><p>“No.” Kira said. “Get to the docks and book us passage to the Fire Nation. I need to Negotiate with my father.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>As soon as they were on board the ship and headed towards the Fire Nation, Joro and Mako went up on deck and Kira and Bolin closed the cabin door behind them. Two narrow bunk beds were stacked on either side of a small table. This was to be their cabin for the next two days. Kira didn't care if they had to spend the next two days in that smelly dumpster in the ally, she was just glad to be free of her mother's clutches and back with Bolin. She hugged him so tightly that she would have worried about cutting his air off, but he never complained. He held her gently, his breathing deep and even and calm, his cheek pressed against the top of her head. The only thing that gave away how he was feeling was the racing beat of his heart. He was covered in dust and dirt from the fight in the hotel, and he smelled like sweat, but Kira didn't care about that at all. They were together, and that's what mattered.</p><p>“Thank you for coming for me,” Kira said finally.</p><p>“I wish I had gotten there sooner. I saw...”</p><p>Kira hugged him tighter. “That was <em>not</em> my choice.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Bolin growled. “I could tell. I'm going to have a talk with him.”</p><p>“No, Bolin. Don't be too angry with him. They threatened to hurt someone he loves. He doesn't even like women.” </p><p>“Ooooh.” Bolin's angry scowl turned into concern. “Your mom is a messed up lady.”</p><p>“Tell me about it.” She closed her eyes pulled away. “I'm going to put a stop to it, even if it means I never see her again. At this point, I don't <em>want </em>to ever see her again. I knew she did some awful things when my brother Li was dealing with her...but I didn't think it could be this bad.”</p><p>“Can your dad really put a stop to it?”</p><p>“I'll make sure he understands.” Kira said. She was determined to make it so. And if, in doing it, she lost her family...well, she had a new family in Republic City. People who respected her and treated her like an adult, who loved her and helped her when she needed it.</p><p>Bolin eyed the bunks. “Which one is ours, do you think?” he asked.</p><p>“Oh, you think we'll both fit on one of these?” Kira asked with a smile. “I don't think one of you will fit on these bunks.”</p><p>“Want to find out?”</p><p>“Yes,” she said, and she kissed him.</p><p>There was a knock on the door and Mako's voice rang out, “I hope you two aren't making out in there.” he said, a hint of exasperation in his voice, “Or this is going to be a very long, very unpleasant trip.”</p><p>“For him maybe,” Bolin said with a pout, but he and Kira extricated themselves and opened the door as cheerfully as they were able. Bolin and Joro entered. It was after dark and everyone was exhausted, so they retired to their bunks for the night. Bolin fit, just barely, if he lay on his side. Mako's feet hung of the end of his if he laid straight. Kira, on the top bunk over Mako, looked across the few feet of space and smiled at Bolin in the dark. She could see his eyes smiling back at her.</p><p>Even here, in the middle of the ocean crammed into a tiny cabin, Kira felt safe because he was with her.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OH SNAP I posted my chapters in the wrong order, sorry! THIS is Chapter 10, finishing the saga of Kira's family crisis and the noodle shop incident is supposed to be 11, sorry!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They arrived in the Fire Nation late the next evening, tired and grungy but with a sense of determined purpose. Mako paid for a car to drive them to Kira's family's home, about a three hour drive and quite expensive, but Kira promised to pay him back. When they arrived, Mako and Bolin stared. Kira's house was every bit as large as Asami's, but in the style of most Fire Nation nobility's estates, with a large walled garden and a sprawling pond. The house itself looked old and grand, with tall pointed roofs and spotless white brick paths. Kira trudged up to the gate looking like a traveling vagabond, but the guard there recognized her instantly anyway and let ushered her and her friends inside.</p><p>“Is my father at home?” Kira asked briskly.</p><p>“Yes Mistress, just finishing dinner.”</p><p>“I need to speak with him urgently. Please have food brought to my friends in guest quarters while I clean up, and then Joro and I will meet with my father as soon as possible.”</p><p>“Yes Mistress,” the guard bowed and strode away purposefully to do as Kira had said.</p><p>Bolin gawked openly, but Mako kept his cool as Kira led them all through the hallways and chambers to a large sitting room. “The rooms back there are for you to clean up if you wish, the guest bath is two doors is up the hall there.</p><p>“Where will you be?” Bolin asked anxiously. Kira took his hands and smiled.</p><p>“I'm going to my room to clean up and get changed. After I talk to my father I expect you'll be called in to talk to him as well.”</p><p>“Okay,” Bolin said. He was looking around nervously at the house and the fine furnishings. Kira felt self-conscious suddenly, for the obvious display of wealth that she had never noticed until she'd left it behind. She turned pink, kissed him hurriedly on the cheek, and then fled.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Kira and Joro stood in front of her father's office with a sense of dread finality. This was their one gambit to get out of this mess and put the entire silly “betrothal” behind them. Kira knew that her father was a reasonable man, but...there was always the chance that things could go wrong. So very, very wrong.</p><p>She knocked firmly on the door, and her father, Kazu Takawa opened the door and hugged her so quickly she was swept off her feet. He wasn't an elderly man, but he was no longer in the prime of his youth either. His hair was gray with streaks of black, and his beard was short and trimmed neatly. He had a little bit of a pot-belly, but it was obvious that he'd been a fighter in his youth by the thickness of his shoulders and the leanness of his limbs. He wore informal black robes, having already changed out of the formal uniform he wore each day to work at the palace. Kira almost burst into tears right then. She felt like a little girl, floating on the edges of her memories. But she managed to contain herself, and smiled sadly at her father when he did at last release her.</p><p>“My Kira! What brings you home now, when you should be at school? And Joro?” His eyes narrowed with obvious dislike. Joro's father was a political rival. “What is going on?”</p><p>“Father, I've come to tell you what has happened and ask for you help.” She bowed low to him, using the formal language of business negotiations rather than the familiar tone she would normally talk to him with. This was too serious for that.</p><p>Mr. Takawa's face darkened and he eyed Joro suspiciously. “Come and sit Kira, Joro. Tell me what has happened and make your request.</p><p>Kira and Joro sat on the plush red chairs, a sleek wooden desk between them and Kira's father. Kira was glad that she had cleaned up and took time to order her thoughts, but she wished that she had also taken the time to eat. She felt a flutter in her stomach that might have had nothing to do with hunger, but she ignored it and plunged in.</p><p>“While I was at University I reunited with my old friend Asami, who introduced me to a man named Bolin. I love Bolin as much as I love my studies, and he has made me very happy these past months. He once saved my life when I was threatened by a gang sent to kidnap me.”</p><p>Kira's father's eyes flashed in anger, but he held off on his questions and allowed Kira to continue.</p><p>“The police were unable to find out who hired the kidnappers, but two days ago, Mother arrived at my apartment and threatened me. She later had her servant kidnap me and bring me to a hotel, where she tied me up hand and foot. She said that I was to marry Joro or she would sabotage my schooling, kill Bolin, and leave me penniless and without a family. Yukari was there, and she made similar threats against Joro.”</p><p>Kira's father stood up, his hands flat on the desk, his eyes flaming. Kira half expected him to spit fire if he opened his mouth, but he waited patiently for Kira to continue.</p><p>“Bolin and his brother Mako rescued us. I brought all of us here to Negotiate with you.”</p><p>“And your request?” Kira's father's voice was much calmer than Kira had expected.</p><p>“I merely request that you help me to make sure that Mother and Yukari do not attempt to disrupt my life any further than they already have. I wish to never speak with or see either of them again,” her voice quavered a little bit here as the emotions leaked out, “and if you refuse to help me, I will make a formal plea to the Fire Lord to have her tried and imprisoned. Mako is a police officer in Republic City. He, Joro, Bolin and I would all give testimony that would make imprisonment a very likely sentence.”</p><p>When Kira was finished, everyone was very still. Joro's eyes were wide. He obviously hadn't thought that Kira would make <em>that</em> threat, but he and Kira's father knew from the determination in her stone topaz eyes that she would absolutely make good on it if she needed to. Kira was done taking her mother's shit.</p><p>Kira's father looked at Joro for a moment, who seemed utterly terrified of both Kira and her father.</p><p>“Do you have anything to say, Joro?”</p><p>“No. Yes.” He gulped visibly. “Everything that Kira has said is the truth.”</p><p>Kira's father nodded. “Very well. I will help you,” he said. “But I would like to meet this boy and his brother.”</p><p>“Yes father. I would like you to meet him.” Kira stood and bowed, and Joro quickly followed suit. Then she rushed around the desk, threw her arms around her father's shoulders, and started crying. It had been a long couple of days.</p><p>Joro left Kira and her father alone so that they could have their moment. Kira's sobs were violent, pulled from her by the success and the safety and that fleeting feeling of being like a child again, when her parents could make everything right again. He held her and let her cry, his big grown up daughter, still so short and slight that he could pick her up and carry around if he wished.</p><p>Kira's sobs eventually died away to sniffles and she pulled back to wipe her face on her sleeve.</p><p>“I was so afraid that you were behind her in this.”</p><p>“Forced marriage? Kidnapping? My only daughter, I have only ever wanted your happiness.” His eyes closed for a moment and he shook his head. “What your mother has done is illegal, and she deserves to be imprisoned. But I couldn't live with myself if she were sent away. I will deal with her and Yukari. Your young men have thwarted her plan and exposed her. Coming here was the right decision. She cannot hurt you now my daughter.”</p><p>He took Kira's hand in the crook of his arm, as if he were escorting her to a formal ball, and they walked slowly through the house to the guest suite where Bolin, Mako, and now Joro were all helping themselves to some of the best food the Fire Nation had to offer, courtesy of the Takawa family chef.</p><p><br/>Bolin jumped anxiously to his feet when Kira and her father entered, his mouth still full of food, which he quickly swallowed as he bowed.</p><p>“Father, this is Bolin. Bolin, my father Kazu Takawa.”</p><p>“I'm very honored to meet you sir,” Bolin said with another bow. He met Kira's gaze and she smiled so brightly that Bolin sagged in relief. She left her father's arm to go and stand with Bolin.</p><p>“And this is Mako, Bolin's brother.”</p><p>Mako stood and gave a precise, respectful bow.<br/><br/>“Nice to meet you, Mr. Takawa,” he said.</p><p>“Thank you both for looking after my daughter in Republic City,” Mr.Takawa said. “I am in your debt for saving her life and for helping her get home safe to me.” He sat down at the low table and poured himself some wine. “Please, tell me about yourselves.”</p><p>It didn't take long for everyone's life story to come tumbling out. Kira's father was a good listener and asked plenty of leading questions. He was particularly interested in pro-bending. “We should bring pro-bending here to the Fire Nation! Agni Kai are so old fashioned now.”</p><p>“Do you have enough Earthbenders and Waterbenders here to make it work?” Mako asked. “I thought that the Fire Nation was still fairly homogenous.”</p><p>“You would be surprised. Since we opened our borders to immigration, our cities are much more diverse. But you do have a point. Benders from other nations are still few and far between. Perhaps a Pro-bending league could change that.”</p><p>“Republic City has people from all over the world,” Bolin said excitedly. “We even have Air Temple Island, and Tenzin and his family spend a fair amount of time there, especially since Korra has been in town.”</p><p>“Avatar Korra?” Mr. Takawa asked, his gray eyebrows raised high.</p><p>“Yeah, she's super cool.” Bolin said. “She's from the Southern Water Tribe, but I think she's planning on staying in Republic City for good.”</p><p>“I know where Avatar Korra is from,” Kira's father said with a crook of a smile on his lips. “I didn't know that you were acquainted with the Avatar, or with the Airbenders.”</p><p>“Bolin fights with Meelo every time we got to Air Temple Island.” Kira said.</p><p>“Only because he attacks me because has a huge crush on you and he's super jealous!” Bolin defended himself. He didn't want her father to think he was a brute who would pick a fight with a little kid.</p><p>Mr. Takawa laughed, putting and end to the banter. “I see you have had quite a full life in Republic City Kira. I am happy for you.”</p><p>She flushed pink, pleased at the praise. “Did you see my semester report that I sent home?”</p><p>Her father beamed with pride. “Nearly perfect scores in every course,” he said. “However, now I will leave you young people to relax without an old man. I have work to finish, and some difficult but necessary correspondence which cannot be delayed.” He glanced meaningfully at Kira and Joro. “It was very pleasant getting to know you all. I hope you will stay for a few days, until things are settled for good, and then I will send you back to your Republic City on our personal yacht.”</p><p>“Thank you father,” Kira said. She stood and walked with him out to the hallway. “This means everything to me.”</p><p>“I can see that,” he said. “You have grown up in a beautiful, smart, and happy young woman. It is all I could want for you.”</p><p>“What about those things mother wanted...a political alliance, an honorable marriage, money...”</p><p>“None of those things made your mother happy in all her years, nor me. Friends, family, education, self-sufficiency. Those are the things that make a person successful, and happy. You have found those things.”</p><p>“And what do you think of Bolin?” She asked, standing on her tip-toes, her eyes wide and her lip between her teeth.</p><p>“He is a very handsome boy, and very nice. He saved your life as well. Does he treat you well?”</p><p>“Oh yes,” Kira gushed. “He is honest and kind and generous and oh! He's a lavabender!”</p><p>“A rare skill,” her father mused. “I take it from the look of them that one of their parents was from the Fire Nation and the other from the Earth Kingdom?”</p><p>“Yes, I think so,” Kira said. “Why?”</p><p>“There is a theory that a lavabender can only be born from that combination of parents. If you were to stay with him, your children could have the same gift.”</p><p>Kira pondered that. “So you like him?”</p><p>“If you like him, I like him.”</p><p>Kira hugged her father again, tightly. “Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>The next morning, Joro left to attend to his own business, but Kira, Mako and Bolin stayed one more night. Kira's father wanted very much for her and her friends to stay for a week, but Kira was adamant that they leave before her mother arrived back, and that she'd already missed too many classes, and Mako and Bolin had missed enough work.</p><p>She showed Bolin her old bedroom, empty of the most personal items that made it feel like hers, but still strewn with the detritus of a happy, comfortable childhood. Ribbons and awards hung in a neat row on a pinboard above her tidy desk. Rows of her favorite books were displayed on the shelf, and well-loved dolls sat in prim and proper rows near her bed. Photos of friends, including one of a young Kira with a young Asami and several other girls in uniform, decorated the walls. Bolin studied one in particular that showed Kira's parents with their children, three teenaged sons and the youngest, their only daughter, Kira. His heart twisted slightly in his chest and he let his mind wander, for a moment, to what his life might have been if his parents hadn't been killed when he was young. More siblings? A family to have holidays with? More years of school?</p><p>“I'll admit it, I was spoiled rotten as a kid,” Kira sighed, joining Bolin in looking at the photo of her family. “Youngest child and the only girl. My parents, especially my father, gave me everything I wanted.”</p><p>“You don't seem spoiled,” Bolin said. “I never would have guessed that you lived in a house like this until I saw it.”</p><p>She took his hand in hers. “Do you remember your parents at all?”</p><p>“Yes,” Bolin said quietly. “A little. Mako remembers more. Maybe I only think I remember the things he told me about them...we just have the one picture of them. I think...I think my mother smelled nice. And her hair was really soft. I used to sit on her lap and kind of pet her hair. My dad, I remember his laugh. Not his voice, just his laugh. Mako says I look like him.”</p><p>“I'm so sorry Bolin.”</p><p>“Yeeeah. Well it was a long time ago. And Mako has been the best big brother that a street kid could want. He always gave me the extra food, or the most comfortable spot in the trash heap, and he learned to do this firebending trick to keep our feet warm when he was like eight and it was a game-changer. It's amazing how having dry warm feet can just make you feel so good.”</p><p>“That's...incredible.” Kira shook her head in disbelief, “I've never slept outdoors in my life.”</p><p>They stood together, reflecting on these vastly different experiences. Kira wondered what how she would have fared on the street. She probably wouldn't be a University Student now, thats for sure. She might not have ever met Bolin either.</p><p>Bolin put an arm around her waist and gave her a cheerful smile. “Don't be feeling bad about your life. Asami had the same realization, even Korra, when she figured out just how bad it was for me and Mako as kids...but it made me who I am.”</p><p>“I like who you are,” Kira said. She kissed his hand that she had been holding and then hung her arms around his neck, her cheek pressed against his chest. “But I'm still sad for little Bolin, sleeping with cold feet in the garbage.” Her voice quavered, thinking about it.</p><p>Bolin smiled sadly. “I try not to dwell on all that. It's in the past, and it brought me here, to you. If I have you, and Mako, and our friends...then I'm the luckiest guy in the world.”</p><p>Kira stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “I'm the lucky one Bolin. You've saved me twice now. And my father really likes you.”</p><p>“Really?” Bolin brightened. “I've never met a girls' father before, and I was so nervous. I know I talked too much, but he seemed really interested in the pro-bending scene...”</p><p>Kira kissed him again, this time more forcefully, until he got the message that the time for talking about her father had passed, and she needed his attention elsewhere.</p><p>“We haven't been alone together in so long,” Bolin sighed, “This is nice.”</p><p>“Hmm,” Kira was kissing his neck, too busy to pay much attention.</p><p>“Yeah, your childhood bedroom with a picture of your parents right there...um...”</p><p>Kira's hands halfway to his waistband, but she paused and looked up at Bolin with concern. He had seemed to like the kissing at first, but now he was all tense, and looking around nervously. “What's wrong?”</p><p>“Oooooh...just that it looks like that picture of your dad is watching us and it's kinda freaking me out. And like, your dolls are all right there, and the door isn't closed all the way, and like, what if a servant walks in or something? I mean, I just got on your dad's good side and I do <em>not</em> want to mess that up.”</p><p>Kira looked around the room, puzzled. To her it was just her old room, in her old house, with her old stuff in it. There wasn't really anywhere more private in the house that she could think of. But she wanted—no she <em>needed</em> Bolin to be comfortable, or this was just not going to work. She had to fix this.</p><p>“Hold on,” she said. Her hands reluctantly left off of trying to get his pants open and she darted over to the door, closed it, and then slid the edge of her ornately carved wood bureau a few inches across the floor so that it was blocking the edge of the doorway, preventing it from opening. After that, Kira led Bolin over to her four-poster bed, pushed him onto it, and began untying the sashes that held the hangings open until they were enclosed in a red and gold satin cocoon.</p><p>“Why does your bed have curtains?” Bolin asked, but he quickly forgot his question when Kira climbed onto his lap and resumed kissing his neck.</p><p>“Partly for privacy, partly for decoration,” she murmured against him. “Is it better?” Kira asked.</p><p>“So much better,” Bolin sighed happily. “Now I can just focus on...us...” he trailed off with a shiver when Kira finally got her hands into his pants. He was only half-hard, after being so distracted by their surroundings, but that was quickly changing. But he didn't want her to just finish him like that. “Wait, Kira,” he gasped and pressed a hand to her wrist to keep her from continuing.</p><p>“What's wrong now?” True concern shown in her eyes. “Am I doing something wrong?”</p><p>“No! Not at all,” Bolin said. “I was just wondering if...we could try something different. Now that you're not having your cycle.”</p><p>“Oh!” Kira understood at once what he was asking. Her cheeks might have flushed, but there was no way for Bolin to tell in the pink-tinged tent that was her curtained-off bed. She climbed off of his lap and withdrew her hands from his pants. “Um. I'm not sure how it would work.”</p><p>“I have an idea.” Bolin said. “If you're willing to trust me.”</p><p>“I do trust you Bolin,” Kira said quietly. “I trust you with my life.”</p><p>“Okay,” Bolin said. This time, he gently pushed Kira down onto the bed so that she was lying on her back under him. She looked so vulnerable there, despite the severe traditional hairdo and the long silky dress. Her amber eyes were wide and her lips parted, and Bolin felt like the whole world was right there between her eyes and his. He climbed on top of her, reversing their position from only moments before, and began to untie the complicated pieces of her formal dress. Slowly, hardly breathing, he stripped her one layer at a time. The dress fell open along the center, revealing instead of a brassiere, the traditional white linen wraps. He'd never seen her wear them before, and he pressed his fingertips over the curves gently.</p><p>“Traditional clothes, traditional underthings,” Kira said softly. Bolin, for a change, didn't respond. He leaned down and kissed her gently, then trailed kisses down her jaw, and neck, and collarbone. His erection was throbbing against his own underclothes, but he paid it no attention. All of his attention right now was on Kira. Bolin could still feel and see the swell of her breasts through the chest wrap, but he wanted to touch her. He found one end tucked neatly under on the side and began to unwrap her. Kira, flat on her back, arched up to help him, but she made no move to undo the wraps herself. Bolin unwound them slowly and patiently, his hands awkward but steady, trying to resist the urge to just cut the whole mess off. But finally he saw skin and they fell away to reveal Kira's small, perfect breasts.</p><p>Bolin immediately went to work, kissing gently, then more fervently. His lips found the curve and the pale nipple, which caused Kira to arch her back again under him. Still he went slowly, moving his tongue in large circles around the nipple and then finally, with excruciating, deliberate motions, sucking on the hard nub. Kira moaned, impatient, and pulled at his shirt. He ignored her plea and moved instead to the other breast.</p><p>“Why are you still dressed?” she moaned “Please.” Bolin unbuttoned the collar and let her pull it up and over his head, revealing his pale expanse of muscled chest, his forearms and biceps and abs. She ran her hands up and down his sides, humming with that shock of pleasure she felt every time he disrobed.</p><p>Bolin went back to kissing her nipples, his hands working down below to tug her underwear off, awkward to do while he still straddled her waist. Thankfully, they were the normal modern sort that he'd had experience with before. Kira raised her hips to aid him, her eyes closed, her stomach muscles tense under his hand. He knew that she was impatient—she always wanted him inside her as soon as he started kissing her breasts, but he was determined to make her wait this time—or to make her finish without his cock, if he could.</p><p>“Bolin,” She breathed his name into the top of his head, her hands fluttering on his back. “Please...” she moaned, and he knew what she wanted, but still he didn't give in to her. He slipped his hand down, and his finger probed the slick folds for the opening, and—success, entered her. She shuddered and immediately clamped her thighs closed around him, her hips rising slightly. Still Bolin forced her to be patient. He trailed his kisses down her smooth pale stomach, across her groin, and settled between her legs. He glanced up at her, her bosom heaving with her heavy breathing. He used his one free arm to force her knees apart, plunged another finger inside her, and made slid his tongue between her folds all at the same time. Kira yelped and writhed, attempting to behead him with her thighs, but Bolin was much stronger than her and managed to keep from being flattened.</p><p>It was a whirlwind of experiences. The taste and smell—not unpleasant—was strong and the position with one hand inside her and the other on her knee was awkward. Bolin's cock was so hard that when he shifted on the bed it almost hurt. Instead of thinking about that, he concentrated on finding Kira's spot, the nub that was the focus of so much attention from his fingers before and during and after sex, and flicked his tongue across it. When her legs tried to close on him again, he knew he had it right. Bolin didn't relent, even when her fingers twined painfully in his hair, and when her back arched and her hips bucked. He sucked hard on her, his chin rubbing against her, his fingers stroking, She tensed and strained against him, her cries a high and pleading refrain for him to please, please, almost. Bolin could tell that she was almost there, so he continued, stroking and sucking until he felt the walls of her vagina constrict around him. Her whole body trembled and she gasped at the feeling, her pleas dying down to a whisper. Only then, when she lay trembling and weak beneath him, when her hands released their iron grip on his hair, when she cringed at his low kiss, did he get back on his knees and pull down his pants. Her eyes were closed and her lips were parted in a smile, but she opened them when he moved slightly off of her. She started to sit up, but Bolin pressed her gently back down. “No, stay there,” he said. He wanted to see her, feel her beneath him, know what he had done to her. He went on his hands and knees above her to obscure what he was doing, but Kira made a little growl.</p><p>“I want to watch,” she murmured, so Bolin knelt above her. He would have been embarrassed for her to watch him pleasure himself pretty much any time before this, but today was different. After that, he felt wholly in control, like he was capable of anything. He focused his green eyes on her steadily, gripping and stroking hard just the way he liked, until he gritted his teeth and groaned quietly, his seed pulsing out, dribbling out the end of his cock and onto her splayed legs below him. Kira watched, still spent and exhausted and happy. She stretched out and then sat up to kiss him, the taste of her own sex still in his mouth.</p><p>“Was it everything you wanted?” Kira asked.</p><p>“More,” Bolin breathed. He put his arms around her and held her close. He'd been oddly quiet and serious during the whole ordeal (to be fair, his mouth had been occupied) but finally a smile quirked back onto his lips. “Thank you for letting me try that.”</p><p>“It was well worth my while,” Kira said. “I've never had...an orgasm like that before. It was like your mouth was on fire and my whole body felt it. Every bit of me was just...all there.” She could hardly describe it, but it made Bolin swell with happiness.</p><p>“We'll have to do this again at home,” he said.</p><p>“Yes please. And...I liked when you took the lead too. It was really sexy for you to tell me what you wanted me to do.”</p><p>Bolin laughed “It was strange for me too, but I'm glad you liked it. I would never want to be too rough or forceful.”</p><p>“Bolin, I trust you.” Kira sighed. “But getting dressed is going to be a hassle. That's why I kept going for your pants right away...I thought we could do it quick without getting all the way undressed. Mako might be wondering where we are.”</p><p>“Oh, Mako probably just assumes were off somewhere having sex like...all the time.” Bolin said, rolling his eyes. He flopped back onto the bed and started pulling his pants up. Kira opened the curtains of the bed and slid down, grabbing a handkerchief from a drawer to clean up the seed that was dripping down the front of her thighs.“He's usually right,” Kira admitted. “Like now.”</p><p>“Well...yeah. But not always.” Bolin hopped off of the bed and searched through the mussed up sheets and pillows to find his shirt. One he had shrugged it on and buttoned it up, he looked to her, puzzled.</p><p>“Do you need help?”</p><p>Kira slumped. “Yes. But do you know how to put on a traditional Fire Nation women's dress? I hope my hair still looks okay.”</p><p>“That's a no and a.....no.” Her bun was, in fact, a frizzy floofy mess. Bolin ran a hand through his own hair and found it equally disturbed. “Oh no.”</p><p>There was a polite knock at the door. “Mistress, dinner is served.”</p><p>Kira's face paled. “I'm still getting ready!” she said, with mock-calm, then to Bolin in a whisper, “You're about to get a crash course in dressing a Fire Nation lady!”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The rest of their stay at Kira's family's home was pleasant, and trip back was relatively uneventful, but much more comfortable for being on the Takawa family's private yacht. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whew! I just finished writing chapter 14, and that's the end. I originally planned on 12, but I'm just glad I was able to wrap it up. Since it's an episodic smut fic I was worried I'd never find an ending at all, but I like where I'm at. Stay tuned for some pro bending and a trip to Ember Island. I'll keep editing and posting a chapter a day until it's all up. Again, apologies for any weirdness/typos/spellings, I don't have a beta reader or anyone looking it over. I'm also posting the "asides" I wrote that don't quite fit with the Kira/Bolin as separate stories, check them out if you want. :) Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Noodle Shop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I posted these out of order at first, sorry! If you're continuing from yesterday, this is the actual chapter eleven and I just posted the real chapter 10 ("Home") now, which finishes the arc about Kira's family. The noodle shop chapter takes place after that. Oops!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been several weeks since Kira, Bolin, and Mako had arrived back in Republic City and things were finally settled back into their regular routine, including having dinner with Korra and Asami once a week. This week they were at Mako's favorite noodle shop only a few blocks from their apartment.</p><p>“Korra and Asami have been in the bathroom for a long time,” Bolin complained. “I thought they were going to get our refills before they came back and I'm thirsty.”</p><p>Mako and Kira looked at each other, then back at the clueless earthbender.</p><p>“Should someone go check on them?” Bolin asked. Mako sighed and shook his head.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Bolin, they're probably having some private time,” Kira said gently.</p><p>“At a restaurant?? In a bathroom??” He looked scandalized, but Kira stared pointedly at him.</p><p>“Bolin, we once...at the arena...” she stuttered to a stop before she said something embarrassing in front of Mako, but the older brother had already squeezed his eyes shut and held up his hand.<br/>
<br/>
“I do not want to hear about this,” Mako said.</p><p>“Yeah but a bathroom?” Bolin said. “Gross.”</p><p>“Are you saying that if I pulled you into a bathroom and took off my--”</p><p>“Stop! Please! I hear enough of your sex life through the wall every night, I do not need any more information!” Mako interrupted.</p><p>Bolin and Kira looked at each other, and then turned bright pink. “You can hear us?” Bolin asked. His voice was pitched a little higher than normal, and he was starting to sweat.</p><p>Mako sighed. “Yes I can hear you. I started using earplugs, but when the bed rattles against the wall it always wakes me up.”</p><p>“Sorry,” Kira said with a wince. She knew that Mako's bedroom was on the other side of theirs, but she didn't think that the walls were that thin, or that she and Bolin were that loud.</p><p>“Just keep it in the bedroom, that's all I ask,” Mako said.</p><p>“Well we always put a blanket on the couch first,” Bolin reassured his brother, but Mako just glowered.</p><p>“Sorry! Sorry! Bedroom only. Got it.”</p><p>They were saved from further discussion by the return of Korra and Asami, both red-faced, rumpled, and glowing. They sat beside each other, their hands clasped, and smiled at the friends.</p><p>“Where's my drink? Korra you said you were going to get the refills on the way back.” Bolin said grumpily.</p><p>“Oh, we forgot.” Korra said, blinking. “Sorry.”</p><p>“And what took you so long?”</p><p>“Just fixing my hair,” Asami breezed, tossing her long waves of hair over her shoulder.</p><p>“Hmmm.” Bolin glared at the two girls, who smiled sheepishly. “Fine. Me and Kira will go and get them.”</p><p>Mako smacked his forehead, but moved aside so that Bolin and Kira could get out of the booth to go get the drinks. Bolin winked at Kira, obvious glee in those big green eyes, and she couldn't help but giggle. She let Bolin take her hand and pull her to the back of the restaurant, where the bar and the bathrooms were both located.</p><p>“Are we going where I think we're going?” Kira asked. “What happened to 'gross'?”</p><p>“Um, talking about taking things off happened.” Bolin said with a grin. They opened the door, darted inside, and closed it quickly behind them. It was a very small room with the usual appliances in the usual spots, not very romantic but not unnecessarily gross either. The owners seemed to have done a decent job of keeping it presentable.</p><p>“It was just hypothetical,” Kira said. “I didn't mean that I actually wanted to--” Bolin interrupted her with a kiss, and she forgot that they were in a bathroom, and that their friends were waiting for them, and that the door was flimsy. His lips on hers were the only thing that mattered.</p><p>“How fast do you think we can be?” Kira asked, gasping as his mouth moved to her neck, kissing and sucking at the tender skin there.</p><p>“Is it a challenge?” Bolin murmured.</p><p>“And where will we do it? I am not sitting on that toilet. Or that sink.”</p><p>“Standing up?”</p><p>“That seems like a lot of work,” Kira mused, but she trailed off when he parted the neckline of her dress and began kissing between her breasts. Before she could think of another objection, Bolin gestured with his fist and raised one of the clay tiles from the floor into a small pillar about one forearm's length square. He took off his jacket, folded it to make a cushion, and then lifted Kira up onto it. She was impressed with his skill and his estimation—her groin lined up perfectly with his. Now the only thing in the way was clothes. Her hands made quick work of his drawstring pants, pulling them down to free his already hard cock. Kira's own clothes were a little tricker. She had to hitch her skirt all the way up to her waist and slide her underwear aside, her bottom all the way on the edge of the rock pillar, before it would work.</p><p>Bolin slipped on the condom with no fumbling and pressed slowly into her.</p><p>“I thought we were going fast?” Kira said in his ear before biting gently on his earlobe.</p><p>“As you wish,” Bolin whispered. He moved his hands to cup her behind, securing her on the ledge so that she didn't slip away, and began pumping into her, slowly at first, then faster. Kira wrapped her legs around his waist and made little noises in his ear, her arms around his shoulders and her hands gripping the fabric of his jacket.</p><p>As the pace turned frantic, Bolin kissed her again without stopping his rhythm, their skin slapping, his own voice a low growl of need in the back of his throat. He thrust again, passion and urgency and lust all climbing through him, a need as ancient as time—and then he was there, halting and staggering, his orgasm gripping him. “No no no don't stop!” Kira gasped and clutched him to her, arching her back and pressing her hips into him. She kept him inside her and rocked her hips up and down, squeezing with her walls as hard as she could and rubbing her clitoris against the very top of his shrinking erection.</p><p>Suddenly Bolin ripped the front of her dress down the middle and took her nipple into his mouth, and she was there, moaning his name as she slowly rolled her hips in ecstasy, her moans of pleasure echoing in the small room.</p><p>A loud knock on the door brought them back to reality.</p><p>“One minute!” Bolin said nervously. Kira's heavy breathing dissolved into laughter. He was still balls deep inside her, in a tiny restaurant bathroom, and there was someone on the other side of the door. Bolin guiltily withdrew, cleaned up, and disposed of the condom in the trash, and helped the still-laughing Kira get down and clean up as well. There was no fixing her shirt, so Bolin, instead of putting his jacket back on, he threw it over Kira's shoulders and buttoned it up.</p><p>“Why did we think that was a good idea?” Bolin asked, his face red. “We can't go out there!”</p><p>“What about Mako and Korra and Asami?” Kira asked. “We can't just leave out the back and not tell them.”</p><p>“Yes we can!” Bolin said. He used his earthbending to settle the raised pillar back into place. It looked fine except for the giant crack down the middle.</p><p>When he opened the door and peeked out, Mako was standing there.</p><p>“Everyone could hear you two!” He hissed, his face angry. “We're being kicked out of the restaurant and banned! This was my favorite place!”</p><p>“Sorry,” Bolin said, but Mako was seriously pissed. He zapped Bolin with a tiny little electric charge, which made him yelp, but wasn't strong enough to really hurt him.</p><p>“Can we leave out the back?” Bolin pleaded. “We didn't mean to be loud!”</p><p>“No way! The walk of shame is definitely happening.” He paused and looked at Kira, whose face was as bright red as a flame. “Ugh, fine. You can go out the back Kira. But Bolin is coming with me!”</p><p>“No, I was the one...um...being loud. I'll stay with Bolin.” She gripped his elbow with both arms and hid her face in his shoulder. Mako grabbed his not-so-little brother by the back of his undershirt and directed him out, through the oddly quiet restaurant, and out the door. Korra and Asami, still in the booth, were doubled over in silent laughter. Korra even had tears of mirth in her blue eyes.</p><p>“And don't come back!” The owner, a middle aged woman, slammed the door behind them once they were back out on the street.</p><p>Bolin sighed. “Sorry Mako.”</p><p>“I can't go anywhere with you!” Mako spat angrily.</p><p>“I said I'm sorry! How can I make it up to you?” Bolin made his eyes as big and pathetic as possible, but he was long past the age when that would have worked on Mako. The firebender turned away, his arms crossed and his face dark.</p><p>Korra and Asami tumbled out of the restaurant a moment later, arm in arm, still trying to hide their laughter. People passed them by on the sidewalk and gave them funny glances, but the two women paid them no mind.</p><p>“You never even brought the drinks,” Asami said primly. “How inconsiderate.”</p><p>“Can't keep it in your pants, huh earthbender?” Korra jibed.</p><p>Bolin flushed and put his arm around Kira's shoulders, his nose in the air. “I can't help it if I'm the hottest thing since Sozin's comet,” he winked at Kira with a grin, and Korra and Asami dissolved into a another round of laughter. Several people crossed the street to avoid the group of crazily laughing young people.</p><p>“Come on Mako. Getting thrown out of a restaurant for having sex in the bathroom isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to us.” Bolin said. He tried to put one hand on Mako's shoulder, but Mako stepped back, his face cold.</p><p>“Maybe not, but it is embarrassing.”</p><p>“Well it's embarrassing when people call me Nuktuk in public too, but I get over it. I'm really sorry.”</p><p>“Mako. It's not that big of a deal,” Asami said, chiming in on Bolin's side. “We're all just having fun, and no one got hurt.” She put a hand on Mako's shoulder, and he didn't resist. “And it is funny. Did you see the look on that old lady's face when the moaning started? I thought her teeth were going to fall out of her mouth.”</p><p>Mako's mouth twitched up into an almost smile. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yeah.”</p><p>“And the other woman who was covering her kid's ears with her hands, as if the kid had any idea what was going on,” Korra said.</p><p>“Oh goodness.” Kira buried her face in Bolin's shoulder. “We were <em>trying</em> to be quiet.”</p><p>“What were you earthbending in there?” Korra asked. “I think that was what got the owner suspicious in the first place. She probably thought you were wrecking something.”</p><p>“You don't want to know,” Kira said with a glance at Mako.</p><p>Korra stepped forward and tilted her head. “Try me.”</p><p>Kira leaned over and whispered  what had happened in Korra's ear, and the Avatar's eyes widened. She looked at Bolin with some newfound respect.</p><p>“That is not something I would have ever thought of, but...good idea.” She looked at Asami with a smile. “I'll keep it in mind for next time.”</p><p>“There won't be a next time because we're banned from the restaurant.” Mako growled.</p><p>Korra slapped him cheerfully on the back. “Don't be so gloomy Mako, when you get a girlfriend, you'll be laughing too.”</p><p>That did not cheer him up.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p>Back at the apartment, Kira went to the study to work on a paper that was due in a few days, and Mako and Bolin were alone in the living room. Mako was trying to read a report, but Bolin was just wandering aimlessly, humming in contentment.</p><p>“Will you stop?” Mako snapped at his brother. “I”m trying to concentrate.”</p><p>“Sorry!” Bolin said. He started making some tea as quietly as he could, but even the closing of the cabinet doors and water sluicing from the faucet were like shouts in the quiet apartment. Mako glared at his brother.</p><p>“What is wrong with you? Can't you be quiet for one minute?”</p><p>Bolin paused, teacup in hand, and crossed his arms over his chest. “This isn't about the noise, is it?” he asked. “I'm not dumb Mako, I can tell there's something bothering you.” The younger brother marched over to the couch and sat down next to Mako. The couch wasn't very large, and their knees touched. Mako scowled and refused to meet Bolin's eyes. When had his baby brother gotten so big? Bolin's shoulders were wider than his own, and he hardly seemed to need Mako's help with anything anymore.</p><p>“Tell me what's going on Mako, please. Is this about the restaurant? Is it about Kira? I hate when you're mad at me.”</p><p>Mako let out a long, frustrated sigh and set his paperwork down on his lap. He looked at the ceiling, and then finally looked at Bolin. His brother's eyes were still that bright summer green, but his brows were furrowed with concern. “I don't even know exactly.” Mako began. “I mean—I remember when it was just you and me, on the streets, and all we needed was each other. No matter what happened, I could rely on you and you could rely on me.”</p><p>“You still can! I still do!” Bolin said. “I thought having friends, a home, a job, a girlfriend...isn't this what was supposed to happen?”</p><p>“Argh, yes. I know.” Mako ran a hand through his hair. “It is. I just miss...us sometimes. The old days.”</p><p>“I thought that sleeping on garbage heaps was terrible,” Bolin confessed. “And in the Triad I was scared every day that...that something would happen to you and I'd be on my own.”</p><p>“Bolin,” Mako sighed. “That's not what I mean. I wouldn't go back to those days even if I could. I guess I just miss you. I miss hanging out with you, doing pro-bending, just being brothers. I feel like...we worked so hard to get where we are, and now you're all grown up and I can't enjoy being a family anymore.”</p><p>Bolin burst into tears and flung his arms around his brother. “That's not true! I love you Mako!” he wailed. “You'll always be my big brother!”</p><p>“Get off,” Mako growled, he rolled his eyes, but he put his arm on Bolin's back. “Why is everything so dramatic with you?”</p><p>The door to the study opened and Kira peeked out. “Bolin? Are you alright?” She frowned at Mako with questioning concern in her eyes. There were circles under her eyes and there was an ink stain on her chin.</p><p>Bolin took a deep breath and calmed himself. “I'm okay. Just brother stuff,” but he didn't let go of Mako. It was getting uncomfortable—Bolin was strong and his hugs were fierce.</p><p>“He'll be fine,” Mako reassured her with a smile. Kira smiled back and nodded, then withdrew back to her studies.</p><p>“Yeah, but will <em>we</em> be fine?” Bolin said. “I...do want to get married and have kids and stuff, but what about you? What will you do?”</p><p>“Bolin, you don't need me anymore. That's what I'm saying. I practically raised you, and now you're going off to get married and start your own life.”</p><p>“I do so need you,” Bolin said indignantly. “Who will heat up my noodles in the middle of the night? What if I have a candle to light? What if I make Kira mad at me and I need you to tell me what to do? And wait, did you say married? I...we..I never said...”</p><p>“I know you. You're thinking about asking her.”</p><p>Bolin's face reddened and he looked over his shoulder at the closed door to Kira's study. “Well...eventually. After we've been together for at least a year. I was going to ask you what you thought about it first.”</p><p>Mako shook his head. “I want you to be happy Bolin, and she makes you happy. She's going to do all the things for you that I would, plus some things I would never do, like get you kicked out of restaurants.”</p><p>“Gee, you're never going to let me forget that, are you?”</p><p>“It was my favorite restaurant!” Mako said, but his scowl had turned into a smile. He shoved Bolin off of him.</p><p>“Remember when Mom and Dad died, and I asked you every night when they were coming back?”</p><p>“Yeah.”<br/>
<br/>
“And every night you said, 'never, but it doesn't matter because I'm going to take care of you forever.”</p><p>Mako swallowed. “Yeah.”</p><p>“I'm holding you to that bro,” Bolin insisted. “You're stuck with me forever, no matter how many little firebender kids I have, or how many mansions, or who I marry.”</p><p>“Yeah I know. It just sucks to think that we won't always be together.”</p><p>The two brothers were quiet for a moment, side by side on the couch, looking at the ragged carpet beneath their feet. Finally Bolin spoke. “Mako, I won't marry her if you think it's a bad idea. If you think we're too young, or she's too smart for me, or that there might not be any restaurants in Republic City to eat at if we stay together...”</p><p>Mako shoved Bolin, but it didn't have nearly the impact it did when they were younger. “No, don't listen to me. You're your own man Bo. You can decide.”</p><p>“That's a scary thought...deciding my life for myself. I think it's the right thing. I feel a spiritual connection. I want to ask her after we've been together for a year.”</p><p>Mako paused for a moment before he spoke again. “If it makes you feel better, I do think it's a good idea.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Bolin perked up. “Now we just have to find you a girlfriend too!”</p><p>Mako shoved his brother again, harder. “If you start talking like that, I will never heat up instant noodles for you again!”</p><p>“Huh, both of your ex-girlfriends are dating each other. Is that weird?”</p><p>Mako rolled his eyes. “No. Not anymore, anyway. Did you really just now think of that?”</p><p>“I've been busy!”</p><p>“It's been years!”</p><p>“Are there any pretty police chicks at the precinct? Ooh maybe you'll rescue a beautiful damsel in distress on the job! Oh, maybe we should hang out at Air Temple Island more, I heard a new batch of acolytes just arrived.”</p><p>Mako shook his head, gathered up his papers, and stood. “I'm going to bed.”</p><p>“Ooh! Come by the set next week and I can introduce you to some of the girls there!”</p><p>“Goodnight Bolin,” Mako said. “Try not to be too loud tonight please.”</p><p>Bolin grinned sheepishly. “No promises.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Truth or Dare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Summer was coming, and with it the end of term exams for Kira. Mako was on a case and working all hours of the day and night, and Bolin, done with filming for a while, was training for a pro-bending tournament. He had joined a group whose Earthbender had broken a leg, and they only had three more matches for the year. Most of his days were spent at the gym getting back into fighting shape, honing his skills, but he also took some time outside of the city to practice lavabending, which he hadn't had much chance to work on. Since he had no lavabending teacher and a loss of control could be disastrous, he had to get away from the city before experimenting with it. Korra had come out with him a few times as well, and they were working on a theory that since the lava was liquid, some of the waterbending motions might give him some direction on how to better harness it and use it for fighting.</p><p>“Today is my last exam,” Kira said. She stood behind Bolin where he was sitting at the kitchen table gulping down what seemed like a gallon of noodles and put her arms around him. It was early, but Mako had already left for work.</p><p>“Today is my first pro-bending match with the Tigersharks!”</p><p>“I promise I'll be there,” she said, kissing him on the cheek from behind.</p><p>“Korra and Asami are coming too. You should sit with them! Mako is working though, like always.” </p><p>“I plan to, they already arranged it. It's my first pro-bending match ever.”</p><p>“I promise I'll be awesome,” Bolin said solemnly. He turned to kiss her more directly, and the second his lips touched hers Kira sighed against him, relaxing. “I've missed you the past few weeks. With training and exams...</p><p>“Do you want to?” Bolin's bright eyes lit up excitedly. Kira looked at the clock and frowned.</p><p>“I have fifteen minutes before I have to leave,” she said.</p><p>“I can work with that,” Bolin practically growled, but Kira just laughed.</p><p>“And I can't get undressed.” <br/><br/>“That's okay,” he said, still hopeful. His hands were already under her shirt, working their way up the smooth planes of her stomach and over her ribs.</p><p>“Okay,” Kira agreed. Bolin stood up and and she was reminded just how tall and broad he was. Especially since he'd been training again, he just seemed firmer, stronger. She would have stood and admired him longer, but suddenly he bent down, slipped one arm under hers and the other around her knees, and picked her up as easily as he had that first day on the beach, when she had sprained her ankle. She yelped in surprise, much as she had then, but instead of flushing red and feeling embarrassed, she laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. They had come a long way. And then, instead of gently laying her on a towel on the sand, he carried her to their bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. He lay her on her stomach, her legs hanging off the end, and knelt over her, his hot breath on the back of her neck, his kisses lingering near her ear. She started to roll towards him, to face him, but Bolin stopped her firmly. His hands pushed her skirt up and over her bottom, and he pressed his still-clothed erection right onto the small triangle of white linen where her legs met.</p><p>“How do you feel about this?” he asked gently, in spite of the firmness of his touch. Kira pressed herself backwards and into him, her breathing fast.</p><p>“I like it,” Kira said. “And I like when you do what you want to me.” It sent a thrill through her when Bolin, usually a shy and considerate lover, took charge. He'd needed plenty of encouragement to get here, but it was a wonderful change of pace. If he wanted to take her from behind—well, she could feel herself getting warm and wet from just the thought of it.</p><p>Bolin smiled and unfastened his pants, dropping them just enough to reveal his cock. He slid it between her legs but not inside her, the fabric of her panties and the slick discharge making her thighs a strange mix of feelings, rough and slippery. A quick reach over to the nightstand for a condom, another second to apply it to his cock, and he was ready.</p><p>“Hurry,” Kira said urgently. One hand was braced against the bed, the other was stroking herself, but paused to move her underwear aside for him. “Please.”</p><p>Bolin complied, putting his hands on either side of her hips and watching his own cock slide inside her, deeper and deeper until his hips were against her. Kira clenched and moaned, her fingers rubbing circles against her clitoris, her free hand gripping the bedsheets until her knuckles were white.</p><p>They stayed like that for a moment, catching their breath. Bolin had to steady himself to keep from finishing right there—the sight of her like this, totally submitting to him, giving him all the control—was turning him on like he'd never felt before. He pulled her back a little bit so that her knees were on the edge of the bed and he could stand behind her. For this, he wanted his full range of motion. He was buried completely inside her, her warmth and wetness surrounding him.</p><p>When the motion began, Kira began to moan in earnest. Bolin used his entire body to pull back and then pound into her with hard, precise thrusts. He felt the friction along his entire length, the tip bumping against the innermost part of her, his testicles bumping gently against her.</p><p>“I'm almost...” Kira said in a strangled voice, and then she cried out and dropped both hands to the bed, her whole body trembling, her orgasm sending spasms through the muscles of her vagina. Bolin sped up, but it only took another moment and he was spent as well, his thrusts trailing off into slow, steady pumps as he emptied himself. When he was done, he pulled out a final time and shivered. Another moment to clean up, and then he flopped onto the bed next to Kira, who had stretched out and was laying on her stomach, smiling like she'd won some sort of award. Bolin pulled Kira towards him, wrapping her in his strong arms. She looked sleepy, as if she could just fall asleep there with him in the bed, but they both knew that would be a very bad idea.</p><p>“How many minutes was that?” Kira asked. “I should go,” but instead of going, she kissed Bolin again, sighing happily against him.</p><p>“I really, really should go...” she loved the feeling of his soft warm lips against her, but she finally tore herself away and sat up. “How does my hair look?”</p><p>“Um...” Bolin smoothed it with one hand, but it did absolutely nothing. “Like someone was kissing you from behind and kept getting it in his mouth,” he said with a grin.She stood up and fiddled with her underwear for a minute before pulling her skirt down and smoothing her blouse.</p><p>She checked the time. “Two minutes! Go get my books in the kitchen, I'll be right back!”</p><p>Bolin heard the water running in the bathroom while he gathered up Kira's books that had been stacked at the table. She reappeared a minute later, her hair freshly braided and her hands and face washed. “Thank you! See you tonight!” She grabbed the books and hurried to the door.</p><p>“Kira wait!” Bolin said. She paused in the doorway and he hurried over. He gave her one last kiss, on her forehead. “It's our one year anniversary today. A year from that day on the beach.”</p><p>Kira's amber eyes sparkled. “I love you,” she said, and she left.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Kira's last exam was long and difficult, but in the end she thought she did pretty good. She headed back to the apartment afterwards. Bolin was gone, probably had been at the arena all day already. She changed and ate, and then went to to wait on the step for her ride.</p><p>Asami's satomobile pulled up a few minutes later, with Korra in the front seat grinning as widely as her polarbeardog. Asami was driving, and waved when Kira clambered into the back seat.</p><p>“Asami got us a box seat!” Korra said excitedly. “I haven't been to a match in ages, I've been so busy dealing with those spirit vines and stupid politics and training my airbending.”</p><p>“I've never been to a match before,” Kira confessed. “My brothers all love listening to pro-bending though.”</p><p>“Oh it's great! I miss it, but there's just not time right now.” She sighed, and Asami reached over and patted Korra's hand. Instead of moping, however, Korra launched into a recap of the rules, despite the fact that Bolin had already versed her in pretty much every aspect of it.</p><p>“Bolin is better on defense, so I hope that's what they let him do. I knew Nania from the South Pole when we were kids, but her family moved to Republic City ages ago. She's an okay good waterbender—nowhere as good as me of course—and their firebender isn't as good on offense as Mako.”</p><p>“His name is Chen,” Kira supplied helpfully.</p><p>“Yeah, I've seen him a few times in matches. Neither of those two are as good as Bolin either. I hope he doesn't end up having to do everything. I hope they win, but I'll be surprised, honestly depends on how the Catgators do tonight.”</p><p>“They've been practicing a lot,” Kira said. “I feel like I've hardly seen Bolin lately, and when we do, we're in a hurry.”</p><p>“I'm sure that will change now that your classes are done for the summer,” Asami said with a smile.</p><p>“I hope so.”</p><p>They arrived at the arena and headed up to their box. Kira wanted to wish Bolin good luck before the match, but there wasn't time. Instead, she stood at the edge and waved at him as soon as he stepped into the prep box. He noticed her right away and jumped up and down, his blinding smile and bright eyes visible even from her vantage in the box seat. Asami had to pull her back down into her seat when the announcer started talking so that they could see.</p><p>The match started quickly, and Kira tried her best to follow what was happening. Bolin was, as Korra had suspected, on defense, sending disks flying rapidly at all three opponents to keep them moving and distracted while his teammates used water and fire to force them back. Unfortunately, the Gatorcats were quick-footed, and none of Bolin's attacks were working, and he kept having to move and protect Chen and Nania.</p><p>“Honestly they're pretty evenly matched,” Korra said.</p><p>The announcer's voice rang out above them, “The Gatorcats are losing ground! Their waterbender is a weak link and—he's back a zone! Now so is their earthbender! The Tigersharks advance!”</p><p>Bolin managed to knock the weak-link waterbender back another zone, and then Chen sent him flying into the water below. Unfortunately, that left the other two opponents to gang up on Nania, who was taking a pummeling. Bolin swooped in and saved her by using several disks as shields, and Chen sent a two-footed flying kick that spread a large fan of fire into the enemy's zone.</p><p>The crowd roared and both opponents were in the third zone. They must have decided that Bolin was the biggest threat, because both enemy firebender and earthbender began focusing on him. He bobbed and weaved flames and sent disks flying back at his opponents, but the flurry was unrelenting until Nania could get back on her feet and send the entire trough of water up in a wave against the two attackers. It knocked them back several steps, and then, finally, the sound of the buzzer filled the arena.</p><p>“Round one goes to the Tigersharks!” The announcer said. The crowd, including Kira, Asami, and Korra, cheered wildly.</p><p>“What do you think?” Korra asked excitedly of Kira. Kira felt her heart racing, a sort of secondhand adrenaline surging through her.</p><p>“It's very exciting! Are you sure Bolin won't be hurt?”</p><p>Korra laughed. “Don't worry about him. He's tough. This is nothing. When we fought the Wolfbats they cheated so hard—but these refs are on the level. They won't let anything really bad happen.”</p><p>“Oh,” Kira said, but she couldn't help but worry. She clasped her hands and sat on the literal edge of her seat to watch the next round.</p><p>This one didn't go so well for the Tigersharks. Almost immediately, they were set back a zone as one after the other, they stepped across the line trying to dodge earth disks. Bolin did his best to knock them aside and protect his teammates, but Nania and Chen seemed uncertain of what do do.</p><p>“There's an opening!” Korra shouted excitedly, but the Tigersharks apparently didn't take it. “What are you doing??” She despaired a moment later, her hands on her head.</p><p>Asami laughed and leaned over to Kira. “It kills her not to get to be out there in the action you know. That's why we don't go to these very often.”</p><p>“And the Tigersharks are in zone three! It doesn't look good for them now folks! That Gatorcat waterbender is back with a vengeance!”</p><p>This time it was Bolin all the way back against the edge, his earth disks flying as fast as his fists, but they didn't manage to knock him off. Nania nearly toppled, but Chen reached out and pulled her back to safety. The opponents were closing in.</p><p>The buzzer sounded again, and Kira sighed in relief .</p><p>“Round two goes to the Gatorcats!” The announcer said. Korra booed, but it was drowned out by the cheers of everyone else in the stadium. <br/><br/>“What did they do wrong this time?” Kira asked. Honestly, she was having trouble following any of the actual action on the platform, and relying on the announcer to describe what was happening.</p><p>“They had a perfect opening for Nania to get the opponents back and she didn't take it! Her aim is terrible and her form is sloppy. The only good thing she did was that wave last round. And that's really on the edge of what's a legal move anyway.” Korra crossed her arms grumpily and put her feet up on the wall of the box.</p><p>“It's just a game Korra,” Asami said. “We all know you're the best waterbender in Republic City. Go easy on her.”</p><p>“Well, I am the Avatar,” Korra conceded with a sigh. “I guess I do have that advantage.”</p><p>The third and final round began, and Kira could hear her heart thumping in her chest. She clutched her hands and bit her lip nervously, watching the flurry of blows. They were going so fast she could hardly tell what was happening—if anything was. <br/><br/>“Amazing! One minute in and no one has been forced into zone two! These teams are so evenly matched that they could be fighting a mirror image!” The announcer boomed.</p><p>It was impressive though, a barrage of flames from Chen were immediately countered by blasts of water from the opponents' waterbender. Bolin's earth disks hit his opposite number, shattering on impact with the other earthbender's disk. And Nania was weaving through the enemy firebender's blasts like a serpent in a river, avoiding getting hit but not really sending any hits his way either.</p><p>“Two minutes in and still no progress!”</p><p>Bolin upped his attack, sending every third disk at different opponent, trying to get surprise on his side and distract them so that his teammates could make a move, but the other team must have had razor focus, because they managed to keep up what they were doing and still avoid the disks.</p><p>“This round is going to be a tie if—THERE IT IS! With only ten seconds left on the clock, The Tigershark's Earthbender has managed to force his opposite to zone two! Can they hold it?”</p><p>Nania did a cartwheel and when she righted herself, send a double-fist blast of water at the firebender, who staggered into zone two with their earthbender. A second later, Chen stepped up and forced the Gatorcats waterbender back as well. The green light flashed, the Tigersharks advanced, and then the buzzer sounded.</p><p>“A last second win of round three makes the Tigersharks todays champs!” The announcer called. Kira jumped to her feet found herself in the middle of a hug with Asami and Korra, who were hooting and hollering. Kira waved at Bolin from the thick of the celebration. He waved at her for a second before his teammates grabbed him in a hug. As soon as Chen broke off, Nania put her arms around his neck and kissed him fully on the mouth.</p><p>“And it looks like the win is bringing out the romance for the Tigersharks! That's team captain Nania of the Water Tribe and Bolin of our very own Republic City!”</p><p>Kira watched as if in slow motion as Bolin pushed the girl away. She could see that he was as angry as Mako before coffee in the morning. Her heart wanted to believe that Bolin didn't, <em>couldn't</em> have wanted that kiss—but a single stabbing shred of doubt still crept into her gut.</p><p>“Oh, that was not cool!” Korra shouted at Nania, but of course the Tigersharks' waterbender couldn't hear them from the box. “I'm going to show <em>her</em> a thing or two about waterbending!”</p><p>“Korra, calm down.” Asami said. She was looking over at Kira, who was pale and still, with tears in her eyes. “Are you alright Kira? I'm sure Bolin didn't have anything to do with that.”</p><p>“Yeah, of course,” Kira said. She smiled, but it was hollow.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>In the prep box, Bolin was storming angrily around, throwing his helmet and pads onto the floor. “I quit!” Bolin said. “Find someone else to replace Hun Li. That was not cool!”</p><p>Nania frowned at him, her helmet under one arm. “I got caught up in the moment. I thought you liked me.” Her face was red, her pale blue eyes as bright as the morning sky.</p><p>“I have a girlfriend!” Bolin said. His face was red, and angry didn't begin to describe him—anger was only half of it—panic was the other. He knew that Kira had been there, that she was watching him from the box. What if she thought that he had encouraged Nania? That he had wanted or enjoyed that kiss? His hand went to the little box in his pocket—the ring he had made for her. Today was their anniversary.</p><p>“I didn't know,” Nania said. “Please don't quit. We've been training with you and you were great out there tonight!”</p><p>He spluttered in disbelief. “I talk about Kira all the time! Chen knew I had a girlfriend, right Chen?”</p><p>The firebender held up his hands, eyes wide. “I am not getting involved in this!”</p><p>“Please don't quit Bolin! We need you on the team. We don't have time to train in another sub!”</p><p>“I was going to ask her to marry me tonight!” Bolin shouted angrily. Nania's tanned face went gray, but she wasn't looking at Bolin. She and Chen were both looking behind him, at the doorway that led out of the prep box and into the locker rooms. Korra, Asami, and Kira were standing there in shocked silence.</p><p>Bolin squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands on his head, mussing his already helmet-tousled hair. He wished right then and there that some bad guy would swoop in and attack, or that he would sink into the floor and disappear for forever, or that this whole thing was just a bad dream.</p><p>“Congratulations Tigersharks,” Asami said in an attempt to break the mood. It didn't work. Bolin staggered over to Kira, who looked sad and hopeful all at the same time.</p><p>“Kira, I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was going to do that—there's nothing between us and I'm quitting the team right now--” his mouth just kept going and going, until Korra clapped a hand on his shoulder and moved him aside.</p><p>“Nania,” Korra said firmly. “We need to talk about your waterbending. It's <em>terrible</em>.”</p><p>“I didn't know he had a girlfriend,” Nania said. She backed away from Korra as the avatar approached her. “Is it a crime to have a crush on a guy?”</p><p>“Sure you didn't,” Korra said sharply. “But this isn't about that, it's about waterbending.”</p><p>Asami shook her head and sighed. Kira still hadn't said anything. Her hands were clasped in front of her, brows knitted. Her look of disappointment was breaking Bolin's heart. He took her hands in his, his green eyes dark and pleading. “You have to believe me Kira.”</p><p>She reached up and cupped his cheek with one hand, gentle and soft. “I know,” she said quietly.</p><p>Bolin sagged in relief and wrapped his arms around her. “I would never go with another girl. I want to be with you forever.” He breathed in the scent of her hair and nuzzled his cheek against her head.</p><p>“Were you really going to ask me to marry you tonight?” Kira asked. She pulled back from the embrace so that she could look up and meet his eyes. Bolin's face reddened a little.</p><p>“Well, not like this. Not after <em>that</em>. But yeah. I had been planning...” He sighed. “I am planning...” He clamped his mouth shut before the word-vomit could begin again.</p><p>She smiled. “Well now have something to look forward to.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Bolin's face lit up with excitement, like a little kid on his birthday.</p><p>“Yeah,” Kira agrees. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him gently on the lips.</p><p>Behind them, Korra was giving Nania a painful lesson in waterbending while Chen and Asami watched in fascinated horror.</p><p>“All right Korra, lay off her,” Bolin said, turning back to the rest of the group. He kept one arm protectively around Kira's shoulders. “I really think it was a misunderstanding.”</p><p>Nania was prone on the ground, sopping wet and exhausted. Korra turned up her nose and walked back over to her friends, where she stood and stared menacingly, her arms crossed.</p><p>Chen had watched most of this without comment, but he finally spoke up. “Are you really quitting the team Bolin?” he asked.</p><p>Bolin looked at Kira. “There are two more matches in the spring tournament. What do you think? I feel bad bailing, but if you want me to I will.”</p><p>Nania sat up. “I'm sorry okay? I promise I won't make a move on you again.” She started bending the water off of herself and back into the pool behind and below</p><p>“It's okay,” Kira said. “I think you should finish the tournament.”</p><p>Chen and Nania looked relieved, but Bolin was still tense. “If you want to.” Kira added. She kissed him on the cheek. “I liked watching you play.”</p><p>Bolin's face was still solemn. “Okay. I'm in. But no funny business from either of you!”</p><p>Chen rolled his eyes. “You're not my type, tough guy. But get your brother up here...” he raised his eyebrows. “Then there might be funny business.”</p><p>Asami and Korra started giggling madly.</p><p>“No funny business,” Nania said, her face red. She offered her hand to shake. Bolin took it, still holding Kira protectively with one arm, and shook.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>They celebrated over dinner at the apartment, drinking sake and talking late into the night. Mako finally shambled in around 2 in the morning looking tired, but Bolin was able to cajole him into just one drink, which turned into three, which turned into Mako sitting between Korra and Asami, an arm around each of them and his usual scowl replaced by a pleasant, relaxed smile. It was unclear who came up with the idea, but someone dared someone else to take a gulp of hot chili sauce, and someone else dared Mako to do a Chief Beifong impression (he was surprisingly good at it) and then it was truth or dare.</p><p>“I have one,” Bolin said excitedly. “Kira, I dare you draw something in one of your textbooks!”</p><p>“A penis! Draw a penis!” Korra insisted.</p><p>“Nooo!” Kira covered her face with her hands. “Defacing a textbook is sacrilege!”</p><p>Mako picked one up from the table next to the couch. “What about this one? I think that 'Agriculture and Trade of the Pre-War Kingdoms' could use some illustrations.”</p><p>“Is there an alternative?” Kira asked. She held the book in one hand and fountain pen in the other.</p><p>“Sure,” Asami said with a wicked smile. “You can pick truth if you want. How many times has Bolin gone down on you?”</p><p>“I don't want to know that!” Mako said. “Just draw the thing!”</p><p>Kira and Bolin's faces flushed a matching bright red. She opened the book to a random page filled with small text and drew a surprisingly accurate and detailed drawing of a fully erect penis. When she held it up, Korra and Asami burst into laughter. “Is that yours Bolin?” Korra asked, tears in her eyes.</p><p>“No!” Bolin said hurriedly. Mako slumped forward and covered his face with his hands to block out the sight.</p><p>“Then whose is it?” Asami asked slyly.</p><p>“Next question!” Bolin demanded. He took the book and slammed it closed, then shoved it far back under the couch. He flopped back onto the arm of the cushioned armchair that he and Kira were sharing, his face red.</p><p>“Okay Bolin, I dare you to show us your butt,” Asami said. “I think everyone here has seen it but me!”</p><p>“That was one time in the locker room and I have no desire to see it again!” Korra said.</p><p>“No fair,” Bolin whined. “Why are you guys picking on me?”</p><p>“I don't mind if they just look,” Kira said, her hand lingering on his hip. “It's a nice butt.”</p><p>“Or you can answer a question.” Mako said.</p><p>“Did you ever touch yourself and think about me, back when we first met?” Korra asked, her blue eyes glinting.</p><p>“Alright, here's my butt!” Bolin stood up, faced Kira with an exasperated expression, and pulled his pants down to moon his friends. They all howled with drunken laughter.</p><p>“Now Mako,” Bolin said as he pulled up his pants and tidied his clothes as if he had some dignity left. “I have a question for you. Who was a better kisser, Korra or Asami?”</p><p>Mako's face turned the bright red of a tomato squash. The girls, one on either side of him, looked expectantly at him.</p><p>“And my dare?” Mako asked.</p><p>“I want to see you in a dress,” Korra said. “You have such a slender figure, I bet you'd look stunning.”</p><p>“Korra was a better kisser,” Mako sighed.</p><p>Asami made an offended face and pushed him away, which was into Korra, who was busy celebrating her victory with her arms in the air. Mako looked her in the eyes and his smile suddenly turned wicked.</p><p>“Korra, I dare you to try fart-bending.”</p><p>“What!?” Korra's celebration turned to indignation as everyone else started laughing again.</p><p>“Do it! Do it!” Bolin shouted excitedly.</p><p>“I can't just make myself do that!” Korra protested. “What's my question?”</p><p>Asami smirked at Korra around the back of Mako's head. “If we had to bring one guy into our bed, for fun...who would it be?”</p><p>Korra's mouth dropped open. “That's so evil! I don't—I wouldn't—are you saying you want--?”</p><p>“I'm just asking,” Asami said. “It's that or fart-bending.”</p><p>Korra stood up determinedly and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, put her hands together like she was going to meditate, and---PLAAAAAT---she leaned forward and a huge gust of air rushed out her butt, knocking over the papers on the kitchen table, rattling the cabinets, and filling the room with a musty old-toilet smell.</p><p>Bolin fell onto the floor he was laughing so hard, while Mako used firebending to light a scented candle on the shelf. Korra stood up, her face slightly pink, but she her hands on her hips like she'd just accomplished something.</p><p>“I can't wait to tell Meelo that you mastered his trademark technique!” Bolin said from the floor. He was laying on his back, his hands over his stomach, laughing so hard that his eyes were watering.</p><p>“If you tell anyone about this I will tell Tenzin that you LOVE babysitting his kids and that you offered to watch them twice a month for the next year!”</p><p>“NO! Please no Korra! My lips are sealed!” Bolin crawled over and laid his cheek on her foot. “And also please never fart-bend again, especially not in my apartment. MAKO! Did you light the candle?”</p><p>“Done,” Mako said. Korra settled back onto the couch primly.</p><p>“Your turn Asami.” Korra said. “I dare you to cut your hair. Not all of it, not much, just an inch or so off the bottom.”</p><p>Asami's mouth popped open and she clutched her long black wavy hair in both hands. “No! How could you even suggest that!” Her voice was pitched much higher than usual and her eyes looked panicky. “Ask me anything! Or give me a different dare! I'll show everyone here my boobs if you want!”</p><p>“As magnificent as your boobs are,” Mako said, “No. I have a question for you. Who wears the strap-on?”</p><p>Kira and Asami looked at each other and burst out laughing. “If you must know...” she shook her luxurious hair out and flipped it over her shoulder, “We take turns.”</p><p>She shoved Mako out of the way and climbed behind him to sit on Korra's lap. She kissed her sensuously on the mouth while Mako watched in awed fascination, and Kira and Bolin hooted and clapped.</p><p>An angry knock on the door quieted everyone. Mako shushed everyone, then got up and answered it.</p><p>“We have had three noise complaints about this apartment tonight!” A grouchy old man said. He peered past Mako and looked into the apartment, and seemed shocked to find that there were only four other people in there.</p><p>“Someone said it sounded like a herd of Elephant Mandrills were up here! How can you make so much noise?”</p><p>“We're very sorry Mr. Aito. We'll keep it down, I promise.”</p><p>“You're a good boy, Detective Mako. Why are you consorting with these hooligans? ”</p><p>“Well actually, she's the Avatar.” Mako said, pointing at Korra. Korra waved from her spot on Asami's lap.</p><p>“Humph,” he said. “Tell your brother he can make it up to me by helping me move some roof tiles up from the basement for repairs. And keep it down!”</p><p>“Sure thing Mr. Aito!” Bolin called from the couch. The old man walked away down the hall and Mako closed the door.</p><p>“I think it's time for bed.” Mako said pointedly.</p><p>They all split off and went their separate ways. Asami called a driver to come and pick up Korra and herself, Mako went to the shower grumbling about having to work in 4 hours, and Bolin and Kira retired to their own room.</p><p>Kira was stripping off her clothes, her nightdress laid out on the bed beside her. Bolin smiled, watching her. It was still amazing to him that she could just undress in front of him, show her whole body to him with no hesitation, no shyness. The trust in that action made his heart swell. “So tell me about how you showed Korra your butt at the gym,” Kira said with a smile.</p><p>“It was an accident,” Bolin said, insistent. “I had just gotten out of the shower after bending practice and I tripped on some water, fell flat on my face and my towel fell off. She was so busy laughing she didn't even feel bad that I had a bloody nose!”</p><p>“I'm just teasing,” Kira said. She slid her silky blue nightdress over her head and unpinned her hair, letting it fall thick and straight and dark around her shoulders. “Korra told me once that she couldn't imagine anyone being attracted to you in a romantic way.”</p><p>“Well that's not very nice of her,” Bolin pouted and crossed his arms.</p><p>“Maybe, but knowing who she's dating now, you really can't be offended.”</p><p>“I'm glad you're not a crazy jealous type. I'm still angry at Nania for what she did. She ruined our anniversary.”</p><p>“No she did not,” Kira said. She stepped over to where he was sitting on the edge of the bed and pushed him back so that he was laying on it and crawled on top of him. “Nothing can stop me from being happy that we've been together for a whole year.” She dipped her head down and kissed him, one hand tracing his strong jaw, the other sliding down his side, pulling up his jacket and shirt. Bolin responded immediately as if her fingers were fire on him. He was already getting hard just from watching her change and now the kiss, her tongue dabbling at his, her lips pulling and sucking at him. She hand wandered lower, looking to find his erection, but stopped when they found, instead, a box in his pant pocket. It was small and square and wooden.</p><p>“What's that?” Kira said, puzzled. “Do you have a rock in your pocket?”</p><p>“Don't look!” Bolin said in a panic. He fished the box out of his pocket hurriedly and rolled out from under her, scrambling to hide it as quickly as he could.</p><p>“Why not? What is it?” Kira asked.</p><p>“It's...for when I propose. I want it to be a surprise.” He hurriedly shoved it into the back of his bureau drawer, in among the socks and underwear.</p><p>“You really were going to ask me tonight?” Kira wondered. “But why are you waiting?”</p><p>“I want it to be perfect,” Bolin said with a shrug.</p><p>Kira's mouth quirked into a smile. “Okay. I'll let you surprise me. But now come back to bed. And take those pants off please.”</p><p>Bolin skivvied out of his clothes and flopped on his back onto the bed, put his hands behind his head and smiled. Kira slung one leg over his stomach so that she was sitting on him like before. Her hands grazed over the pale expanse of his chest, admiring. He shivered.</p><p>“I can see why you have so many fangirls,” Kira commented. “Imagine how insane I'd be if I got jealous of all the girls touching themselves while they think about you.” She reached down between her legs and touched herself softly, just to show him what she meant.</p><p>“No way,” Bolin said, his face flushing. “I don't think--”</p><p>Kira leaned down and kissed him. Her hand moved from her own groin to his, grasping his cock firmly. “But I'm the only one who gets to touch <em>you</em>.” Her hand moved up and down the shaft with torturous, feather-light touches. She kissed him again, her hips grinding against the underside of his shaft, pressing it between his body and hers. She was wet and he was hard, and warm, and suddenly slipping inside her. Kira sunk all the way down onto him, taking him in, in in, until he was completely sheathed inside of her. “I'm the only one who can do <em>this,</em>” she said possessively. Her chest was heaving, her back arched, her hands gripping his biceps so tightly they might bruise.</p><p>“Kira,” Bolin's breath was heavy, his shoulders tense. “We shouldn't...”</p><p>“Urrgh,” Kira clenched around him, fighting to keep perfectly still and not rock her hips on him. “Yes. I know. Oh,” She made a helpless sound, then slowly, agonizingly, lifted herself up and off of him. Bolin gently sat up, rolled her over, and repositioned himself above her and between her legs. “If you want, I can be on top and pull out before I finish,” he offered. His green eyes were hopeful but somber.</p><p>“Please. I want to feel your skin inside me. I want your seed inside me. I want to marry you and have a whole house full of kids.” She kissed his mouth, his neck, his jaw, and Bolin guided his cock into her. She lifted her hips to meet him, and suddenly he was thrusting, his eyes closed in concentration. He could feel her breathing, her heart beating, and he focused himself on remaining calm, on holding back, on <em>not</em> finishing. When she clutched so hot and wet around him he almost lost control, but he cleared his mind and kept thrusting through her soft cries, her wrapping arms on his back, her tears and whimpers and contracting walls, and then he let himself go. He thrust hard and fast, driving into her with his full strength, his mouth on her neck sucking a hickey that would last for a week—and then he pulled out and he came, crushing his pulsing cock between his abs and her belly, spilling sticky liquid between them as his hips continued to buck against her. He roared a groan of satisfaction and frustration and he finished, successful. Kira whispered his name reverently</p><p>“Thank you,” She shuddered under him, pulling him down so that he was almost crushing her. “Thank you for that.”</p><p>Bolin was out of breath and shaken. It has taken more effort to do that than almost anything else they had done together. He held her tightly for a long moment, her breath in his ear the only thing he could hear.</p><p>“It's not the safest thing,” Bolin said quietly. “But you know that.”</p><p>“At least you have more self-control than me,” She answered sheepishly. She kissed him again, and he moved over to lay beside her, cuddling up against her. His breathing was slowing down, but there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Kira turned toward him, resting her cheek against his chest, and ran her fingers idly through his hair as he recovered. She wondered what he was thinking, but then his lashes fluttered and his eyes closed. His breathing was slow and steady, in time with the rise and fall of his chest. She watched him for a few minutes, then sat up to retrieve a cloth to clean up. He woke up briefly as she carefully wiped the sticky mess off of his stomach and mumbled a sort of thanks to her. When she was done, Kira slipped back into the bed beside him and pulled the blanket over them. Curled up next to him in the dark, she couldn't have imagined being this happy a year ago—or imagined any of it—Bolin sleeping beside her, amazing friends, a year of school finished—and it was better than she had dreamed of.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That truth or dare scene was one of my favorite things I've written in this entire story. Hope you thought it was as funny as I did!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Injury</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You could just quit the team,” Mako suggested, entirely too rationally to be listened to.</p><p>Bolin pushed back. “But if we win—” (Mako snorted) “--we win the grand prize! It's not fair to Chen for me to drop out either, they really don't have another earthbender they can call on to sub in.”</p><p>“How is that your problem?” Mako asked. His eyes were red and hanging with dark circles, and he winced when Bolin stood up, the chair screeching against the hardwood floor. Kira, beside Bolin, wasn't much better off.  She was hunched over her mug of coffee in her fluffy robe and pajamas, her eyes puffy slits. She stifled a yawn. They had all drank too much and slept too little, but Bolin seemed to be the only one more or less unaffected. His eyes were bright and he didn't seem tired at all, and he was wolfing down boiled eggs which, when he put them on the table, made Kira and Mako grimace in disgust.</p><p>“What do you think Kira? I said I'd quit the team if you said I should,” he looked earnestly at her, his shoulders tense and his eyes big, captivating, and bright. She fiddled with her coffee mug for a second.</p><p>“You should play if you want to. There's only two more games, after all.”</p><p>“Wohoo!” Bolin grinned and kissed her on the cheek.</p><p>Before they could discuss it any more, however, there was a forceful knock at the door. Bolin bounded over and answered it, and they were all surprised to see Korra. She had a grim look on her face and a newspaper in her hand. “Korra!” Bolin slung an arm around her like they hadn't been together four hours ago.</p><p>“Hey Bolin. I'm afraid I have bad news.”</p><p>“Oh no. Is it the Equalists? Some bad spirits? Assassins? An army of mechs marching towards Republic City!?”</p><p>“No,” She spread the newspaper out on the table so that they could all see the front page. The headline read “ROMANCE FOR NUKTUK! MOVER STAR BOLIN AND TIGERSHARKS CAPTAIN KISS AFTER BIG WIN!” Below was a picture from the match of the moment Nania had thrown her arms around Bolin and kissed him.</p><p>Bolin gasped and sunk into his chair. Kira felt her mouth go dry, and there was a wriggling discomfort in the pit of her stomach. It was one thing to see that last night and then move on, but now...</p><p>“How old are you guys?” Mako said, disdain in his voice. He took a long swig of coffee and shook his head. “This is just the Republic Inquirer, it's a horrible gossip rag that no one pays attention to.”</p><p>“Well Korra read it this morning and brought it here, so someone reads it!” Bolin said. He laid his head down on the table. “What are we going to do?” he moaned. “This is a disaster.”</p><p>“We're going to get payback!” Korra said, smashing her fist into her other hand.</p><p>“I'm going back to bed,” Kira said, trying to hide the hurt in her voice.</p><p>“I'm going to work,” Mako said, “Like a reasonable, responsible adult.”</p><p>“Hey!” Korra and Bolin said together, and then Korra turned to Bolin, her smile savage. “Ready to go kick some butt?”</p><p>Bolin glanced at Kira, who was shutting the bedroom door behind her, then back at Korra, his brow furrowed and his face set in a scowl that could rival Mako's best. “Let's go.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Nania and Chen were at the gym practicing when Korra and Bolin showed up. Nania's face went pale when she saw them, but she stood her ground, her hands on her hips. “What is she doing here?” Nania asked Bolin. The gym was loud and crowded with teams practicing for the final few matches of the tournament. A waterbender nearby was practicing the water whip, tendrils of water looping across the floor and snapping on a partner's earth barrier.</p><p>Korra stood a few steps behind Bolin and crossed her arms, looking powerful and menacing, but she didn't say anything.</p><p>“Did you know about this?” Bolin asked. He showed Nania the paper, and to her credit she looked genuinely surprised. “I had no idea that was going to happen! I just got caught up in the moment!” Her cheeks were red. “I didn't realize it was a crime to have a crush on a guy. And then you rejected me, and now it's in the paper!” Tears sprung to her eyes, and suddenly Bolin felt guilty for assuming the worst. “Are you quitting the team, then?” She asked miserably. Chen looked on, his arms crossed, like Korra's mirror image a few steps behind Nania.</p><p>“No. I'm not quitting,” Bolin sighed. “If you really didn't know about the picture and it was just a slip up...then I guess we're okay.”</p><p>“I promise it was.” Nania said. “I just...you're always so sweet to me. And I've never met an earthbender as powerful as you before.” She sniffed and then smiled at him through her tears.</p><p>“Um. Thanks, I guess.” Bolin blinked. Nania sidled up close to him, almost eye-to-eye with him. Hers were hard and cold like glaciers. There was something unsettling about her gaze. Maybe the hungry way she was lookin at him, as if she wanted to consume him—as if she were a predator and he were a helpless otter-penguin. </p><p>Bolin took a deliberate step back from his teammate and turned to Korra for a quick conference. “She says she didn't know about the photo. And she seems really sad that I don't feel the same way about her.”</p><p>“She's lying Bolin,” Korra said. “She still likes you and she wants to get between you and Kira.</p><p>“What? How do you know? Ooh! Can you do that cool truth-telling thing with Earthbending? I suck at it.”</p><p>“No! I can just tell. I think you should finish the tournament and then never talk to Nania again.”</p><p>“Yeah, okay, that's a good plan.” Bolin said.</p><p>He turned back to his Tigersharks teammates. “I'm in. I'll be here later to get ready for tonight's match.”</p><p>“Is your brother coming tonight?” Chen asked with a smirk.</p><p>Bolin didn't answer, he just turned on his heel and left.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>The match that night was even more crowded than the evening before. They were the second match of the night and the winners of todays games would face each other in the final tomorrow. The Tigersharks were up against the Hog Monkeys, a brute-faced batch known for their ruthless tactics. Kira gave Bolin a long kiss for good luck, then went and sat in the box with Asami, Korra, and even Mako as she had the previous night.</p><p>Bolin shook himself out, stretching and working the kinks out of his muscles. He was trying desperately to push all his worries and thoughts out of his head and just focus on the match. It didn't matter what Nania thought about him, as long as they could work together on the field and win. He could do it. Right? For a minute he wished that he had more spiritual and meditation knowledge, like Korra and the airbenders, the ability to clear his head and focus, but there was the box where Kira and his friends were sitting, and there was the announcer's voice booming through the speakers, and that flash of light in the crowd that must be the photographer who had taken the picture last night...and was the ring in his pocket or did he leave it at home in his drawer?</p><p>“Bolin!” Chen pushed the earthbender lightly on the shoulder and Bolin jolted back to reality. The bridge to the center of the arena was extended. It was go time.</p><p>The crowd cheered and suddenly Bolin felt at home. He had done this a hundred times—it was all about bending now, and that was one thing he was good at. As long as he kept his mind on that, he'd be fine.</p><p>The bell chimed and he started out with his usual defense, quick to block the incoming attacks. He tried to feel through the floor of the stadium to anticipate his opponents, watching their faces and trying to figure out who they were going to target. His earth disks intercepted fire blasts and smashed the opponent's earth disks while his teammates struck around him. He bobbed and weaved as the enemy waterbender focused on him, but he couldn't let them push any of the Tigersharks back! He blocked, and blocked again, then sent disks out to keep Chen from taking a disk to the gut—and the disk hit Chen in the face.</p><p>“FOUL FOR THE HOG MONKEYS!” The announcer bellowed as the ref waved a yellow fan. Bolin rushed over to Chen, helping him stagger back to his feet. His nose was bloodied and one eye was swollen.</p><p>“I thought you were covering me!” Chen shouted.</p><p>“Sorry! I didn't think they were aiming for your face!” Bolin said.</p><p>The round was back on, but Chen wasn't doing nearly as much as before he'd been hit. The Hog Monkeys started ganging up on him, forcing Nania and Bolin to defend him. Bolin growled and surged forward, sending a flurry of attacks at the opposing earthbender—only to find a tiny patch of ice under his foot. He slipped, and before he could recover, the Hog Monkey's Earthbender pummeled him backwards, all the way into zone 2. Now he was behind Nania and Chen, making it harder to defend.</p><p>“Is that ice on the field? An illegal move! Another yellow fan for the Hog Monkeys, this time for their waterbender!”</p><p>“Let's switch it up! Nania you defend! I'm going to get that Earthbender. Bolin tumbled to the side, using the ropes to ricochet a flurry of earth disks in all directions, confusing the Hog Monkeys and obscuring his aim. One disk struck, then another, and another, until the enemy earthbender was teetering on the edge.</p><p>“Bolin is dealing some tough love out there tonight!” The announcer said. It caught Bolin off guard, and he was too slow—the Hog Monkeys recovered. In seconds, Nania and Chen were in zone 2 with him.</p><p>The buzzer rang and round 1 went to the Hog Monkeys.</p><p>“Stay in the game, Tigersharks!” Nania said, trying to boost morale. But Chen, his face crusted with blood, could hardly see. The second the next round started, despite everything Bolin did to keep the heat off of their firebender, Chen was forced back, and then fell with a splash into the water below.</p><p>“Just you and me Bolin!” Nania said. She was still springy and energized, but Bolin felt off-kilter. They forced the Hog Monkeys into zone 2, but he was was so busy looking for ice and guarding his face that he didn't notice that opponent's firebender heating up disks before their earthbender flung them until the superheated disk crashed against his fist, burning his hand. Bolin yelped in pain and ducked away from the next attack, but they were losing ground. Another superheated disk hit his knee, and he was forced into zone 2. Nania couldn't hold out her own and was quickly knocked back into him.</p><p>“ANOTHER yellow fan for the Hog Monkeys! They are right on the edge of being disqualified! But their dirty tactics are working! It looks like Bolin has been burned. Can they pull it together to win the round?”</p><p>“I'll show them burned!” Bolin gritted his teeth and ignored the pain, digging deep inside himself to hit harder and faster than he usually would in a pro-bending game. His earth disks hit true and knocked the Hog Monkeys back by leaps and bounds, until the treacherous enemy waterbender was thrown over the edge.</p><p>The buzzer sounded.</p><p>“This round is a tie! One more round to decide who moves on to the final match!”</p><p>The roar of the crowd was like the ocean in the background, and Bolin had to take a deep breath to focus. He didn't dare try to pick Kira or his friends out of the crowd right now, he just wanted this match over before he or his teammates got really hurt. Chen was back up and in a fighting stance, but he didn't look good. That blow to the head and the swim made him slow and tired, his reactions a second too late. As soon as the buzzer sounded, the Hog Monkeys took full advantage and focused on getting Chen knocked back into the water.</p><p>“Nania, help defend Chen!”</p><p>“I'm trying to win the match!” Nania said. Her bending was fast and fluid, but her blows weren't very powerful. The Hog Monkey earthbender, once he realized this, stopped blocking her water blasts altogether, just planting his feet and taking it, leaving him with more time to bend disks at the Tigersharks.</p><p>Bolin leapt and spun, intercepting several disks meant for Chen and hurling his own back, but he was struggling and outnumbered. He leapt over another patch of ice—how could the refs not see that!?—and found himself dodging burst of fire. Bolin gritted his teeth and tried to force the Hog Monkeys back—but Chen was down. He and Nania stood side by side, the clock ticking down. “I'll attack, you defend!” Bolin told her, but she was losing steam and could only block every third or so attack from the desperate Hog Monkeys. They focused on Bolin, pummeling him with attack after attack, and while he was preoccupied, the opponents managed to pull off another illegal move. Their earthbender shattered a disk and sent the pieces flying like daggers heading straight for Nania. A disk wouldn't do anything to stop the spray of rocks, and earthbending something with so much power behind it would be too slow, so Bolin shoved his teammate out of the way. She tumbled towards the ropes, and a dagger of rock sliced into Bolin's shoulder between just where the hard plates met. He dropped to his knees and discovered more shards of stone sticking out of him. He tried to bend them out, but <em>that</em> was a mistake—before, the stone daggers were plugging up the cuts, now, he was losing blood too quickly. His vision started to get dark.</p><p>The crowd was screaming and the announcer was bellowing, but it was all just a background roar.</p><p>“Bolin! Bolin!” Someone was shaking him, trying to keep him conscious. It was Nania, her eyes wide and wild with panic. “Someone get the healers!” she shouted. Then, darkness.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>“I knew pro-bending was dangerous, but not <em>this</em> dangerous.” Kira's voice sounded strained, and he could picture her wringing her hands in worry in his mind. Ugh. Bolin opened his eyes slowly. He felt much better than he had immediately before passing out, but something was still very wrong.</p><p>“It's not, usually,” Mako said. “The Hog Monkeys have been disqualified from the tournament <em>and</em> their players have been banned from all future competitions. What they did went beyond fouls.”</p><p>“So did we win?” Bolin sat up and immediately regretted it. His head spun and he must have looked like he might pass out again, because several people rushed to support him. Korra was kneeling beside him, her eyes closed, the healing water working on his burned knee. He saw that someone had stripped off most of his clothes, and that Korra had used her waterbending healing powers to plug up most of the holes in him already. Mako was at his elbow supporting him on one side, and Kira was on the other. Asami and his Tigershark teammates looked on worriedly. One of the arena's in-house healers must have patched up Chen, because his face was back to it's usual shape and color.</p><p>“The Hog Monkeys were disqualified, but...after you passed out Nania sent a bunch of icicles at the Hog Monkeys and we were disqualified from the finals too.”</p><p>Nania threw her helmet to the ground and turned away. There had been tears in her eyes. Chen looked pretty despondent too.</p><p>“Am I gonna live, Avatar?” Bolin asked Korra, who was finished with his leg. She sat back on her haunches and wiped some sweat from her brow.</p><p>“You will, but you have to take it easy for a few days. I could heal the wounds but you lost a lot of blood that your body will have to replenish.” She stood up and stretched. “Even if you hadn't been disqualified, you wouldn't be in any shape to play tomorrow night anyway. And for future reference, if there is something sticking out of you, leave it in until the healers arrive!” She crossed her arms and looked pointedly at Bolin and Mako.</p><p>Nania stepped forward and took Korra's place at his knee. She put one hand on his leg and Bolin felt Kira tense up protectively at his elbow, but there was nothing funny about it.</p><p>“Thank you Bolin. If you hadn't shoved me out of the way it would be hit by that rock...probably in my neck.” Her hand trembled and she swallowed. “I'm sorry about any trouble I caused between you and your girlfriend. I just...meant what I said earlier.”</p><p>“I'd take a dagger for any of my friends,” Bolin said honestly, with a smile. “And I probably would have flung some lava around and gotten banished from pro-bending forever if you or Chen had taken this injury,” Bolin sighed. “So it's better this way.”</p><p>Nania stood up and nodded slowly, her cold eyes warming slightly. “You really would, I think.”</p><p>“It's the thick head,” Mako said. “He doesn't realize that stuff like that hurts until after it happens.”</p><p>“Hey! I've saved your butt too many times for you to make fun of my thick-headedness,” Bolin said. “And anyway, it's what makes my hair look so fabulous.”</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>They went home, no party tonight on account of Bolin being required to take it easy, though Mako did cook a whole batch of stir fry and dumplings for Kira and his brother. After they ate, Kira helped Bolin get undressed, even though he protested, and kissed him into the bed, which he tolerated.</p><p>“You have to rest,” Kira said. “And you have to hold me. I was so scared when you passed out at the arena...it was a lot of blood.” She undressed and climbed into the bed with him, snuggling up against his side.</p><p>“I'm okay. Korra healed me up no problem.”</p><p>“Does it still hurt?”</p><p>“Nah, just store.” Bolin worked his shoulder a little. There was a pink scar where he'd been cut, shiny and stark against his pale skin as if it had been weeks ago instead of hours ago.</p><p>“I felt so useless,” Kira said. “All day actually. And helpless. Like...if you decided that you liked Nania better, there was nothing I could say or do to stop you. Then you were hurt and there was nothing I could do to protect you. Nothing I could do to heal you I have...nothing to offer you.”</p><p>“Kira!” Bolin sat up and took her shoulders in his hands. She faced him but didn't meet his eyes. He loomed over her, sitting beside her. “That's not true. You are crazy smart, and you can negotiate business like nothing else, and you're patient and understanding and you laugh at my jokes and...most importantly...you love me. And I love you.” Bolin kissed her forehead. “That's all that matters.”</p><p>“But you would take a knife for any of your friends...You love everyone. You have so much love in you Bolin. Everyone can see it, and it makes them love you even more.”</p><p>“Yeah but I wouldn't have sex with any of my friends,” he countered.</p><p>Kira smiled. “Thank goodness for that.”<br/>
<br/>
“That's only for you,” he reassured her. His hands wandered from her shoulders to her waist, pulling her towards him, and his mouth sought hers for a kiss, long and deep. Kira let herself be pulled into the embrace, wanting to feel his body around her, to know that he was there, and solid and real. His lips were warm and soft, and his tongue against hers was intoxicating. She felt herself getting drawn deeper into the embrace, her hands winding their way around his neck, feeling the soft curls of dark hair at the back of his neck.</p><p>“You have to take it easy,” Kira reminded him, but it was no use. He was already kissing his way down her neck and towards her breasts. “Bolin!”</p><p>“I can't help it,” Bolin complained. His cock was already hard and rubbing against her stomach through the fabric of her nightdress. She reached down and took it in her hands, which made him moan.</p><p>“You lay down,” Kira directed. “Let me...” She pulled down his underwear to reveal his whole member to the dim light of the bedroom, and planted a wet kiss right on the tip. Bolin tensed his whole body at the warm, wet contact, cringing with the pleasure and the sensation. She wanted him to have everything, and to feel better in every possible way. She had to do something to keep the fear of losing him at bay or she'd fall apart. </p><p>“You're not allowed to move at all,” Kira said. “Just rest.” She slid down the bed so that she was in a better position and clutched the base of his cock with one hand, the other lingering on her own groin, gently rubbing herself, feeling the warmth spread from her center through her whole body. She liked the taste of him, salty and tingly on her tongue, filling up her mouth as she took more of him in. Bolin closed his eyes and wound his hand in her hair, gasping. “You don't have to...oh Kira, Oh...” he was breathless already, as her head bobbed down towards his groin, tongue sliding sharply along the underside of the shaft. She went down more, further than last time even, experimenting with the movement, the placement of her tongue, the depth. Bolin writhed beneath her mouth and hands, despite his instructions not to move, as Kira worked her mouth up and down, flicking her tongue across the tip every time she got to the end, gripping the base and pulling along with her mouth as she did.</p><p>“I'm about to...!” Bolin warned Kira, but she didn't stop, even as his warning devolved into a shout of release. Her heart was racing and she put sped up her own rubbing to match her own stokes with the motion of her mouth, sucking and licking until he shouted and pulsed inside her mouth, the salty taste filling the back of her throat, her own climax approaching. She swallowed without letting go, milking every bit of the seed from him, gagging slightly as his hips rocked involuntarily into her.</p><p>The door burst open, and Korra appeared in the doorway, concern plastered across her face, and then disbelief, and then red-faced shame. She slapped her hand over her eyes, backed away, and closed the door. “I AM SO SORRY!” She shouted through the closed door. “I came to check on you and I heard shouting and...”</p><p>“I told you they were probably fucking!” Mako's voice shouted from the living room. “They're like this every night!”</p><p>Korra's footsteps faded back towards the living room. Bolin's eyes were open and his face was white as a ghost. Kira, still between his legs, sat up on the bed and giggled. Then she looked at Bolin's wide-eyed horror and the giggle turned into a laugh. Bolin smiled tentatively, still worried, but couldn't help but chuckle as well.</p><p>“She did say she'd never seen a penis before,” Kira said, tears of mirth forming in her eyes. She wiped them away and almost fell onto Bolin, but remembered that he was injured just in time and flopped down beside him instead.</p><p>“She still hasn't, it was in your mouth!” Bolin said. “I don't know if I can ever look Korra in the eyes again!”</p><p>“Well you weren't the one with a penis in your mouth,” Kira reminded him, and burst into another round of laughter. “And at least it wasn't Mako, or like, my father.”</p><p>“I would die. My heart would just stop beating and I would die. And if it was Mako, he'd probably kill me before I could die so it wouldn't matter.”</p><p>“Maybe she'll think it's sexy.” Kira said. “I do.” She crawled over to him and kissed him softly on the cheek, then climbed out of the bed and started arranging the blankets around him, fussing at him and helping him get comfortable before she put on her robe.</p><p>“Where are you going?” Bolin asked.</p><p>“To say hi to Korra and Asami while you rest,” Kira said. She ran her fingers through his soft dark hair and smiled down at his emerald-chip eyes. “Don't worry about the awkwardness. If you can survive getting kicked out of a restaurant, you can survive Korra walking in on us. I'll deal with the embarrassment so that you don't have to.”</p><p>“I guess you're right,” Bolin said. He was feeling exhausted between the injury, the orgasm, and the excitement of their surprise visitor. He smiled his eyes heavy, "Thanks." </p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>“I'm so sorry!” Korra said again when Kira appeared in the living room. Asami laughed, Mako shook his head, and Kira just smiled.</p><p>“It's okay. I'm sure you didn't want to see that.”</p><p>“We just came by to see how Bolin is doing,” Asami said.</p><p>“He's feeling much better all over,” Kira said, which made Asami snort with undignified laughter again and Korra scrunch up her eyebrows in a failed attempt at a smile. She winced when she realized how it sounded.</p><p>“I told you not to go in there,” Mako said. “If they're in a room together alone they're probably having sex.”</p><p>“Bolin is just really, really sexy,” Kira sighed, her cheeks turning pink. “Sorry Mako.”</p><p>Mako grumbled something under his breath, and Korra and Asami giggled. They were sitting together on the couch, their fingers intertwined.</p><p>“It's healthy to have a good libido. In the South Pole, there's a story that Avatar Aang and his wife Katara had sex at the top of a mountain every month to try and conceive an airbender child.”</p><p>“And it worked? Is that how Tenzin came to be?” Asami asked.</p><p>“I don't know, should I go meditate and ask my past self that?” Korra blanched. “That would be really awkward. But I also heard that Avatar Kyoshi had a girlfriend too. I wonder if all my incarnations like girls.”</p><p>“Have you looked at the histories?” Kira asked. “There might be records of it somewhere, like...lists of past Avatar spouses and lovers?”</p><p>“I haven't looked, but I doubt that there are. Most of the histories I've seen are about great deeds and horrible failures.” Her face was glum. “I feel like a failure too. I haven't been able to get a handle on those spirit vines all over the city. Raiko is putting pressure on me.”</p><p>“Not everything in the world is your problem Korra,” Asami said gently.</p><p>“But the spirit vines are...they've just been getting worse and worse no matter what I do. And this is my problem because I'm the one who caused harmonic convergence and left the portals open and...”she sighed. “Sorry. Can we go back to talking about our sex lives?”</p><p>“I don't have one,” Mako said. “And I don't want to hear about yours!”</p><p>“There are plenty of girls out there who wouldn't mind dating a tall dark and brooding guy like you,” Korra said. “Heck, I used to be one of them.”</p><p>“Very funny,” Mako said, his face reddening. “But I'm too busy with work right now. I barely have time for my friends. Beifong has me working case after case, and handing off cold case files for me in my spare time.”</p><p>“Take a vacation,” Korra suggested.</p><p>“Crime in Republic City isn't going to take a vacation," Mako grumbled. "And a vacation isn't going to find me a girlfriend either."</p><p>"You don't have to find your true love to have a sex life," Asami said. "Keep an open mind." </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I had fun writing these pro-bending matches!<br/>Also, see my story "Furnace" for an aside that has Mako taking Asami's advice to heart if you're interested. Thanks for reading!</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. The Beach (Again)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bolin, Kira, and their friends all arrived via one of the Future Industries smallest ships on Ember Island. It had only taken a few days for Bolin to make a full recovery, after which he was supposed to do some on-location shooting for the last bits of his mover for Varrick's studio. Since Kira's family owned a beach house on the island, they all decided to go and have a vacation together.</p><p>Asami docked the vessel at the private dock with the help of the servants that Mr. Takawa had hired to prepare the house. Bolin was used to Asami's mansion, and had seen Kira's home in the Fire Nation, but he was still impressed with the beach house...or the fact that people had more than one house...but he shook it off. The house itself was set a ways back from the beach and the boat house, beyond the black sand, rocky shore, and up an incline. All he could see of it were the dark peaks of the roof and a wide dark covered porch looking out over the water. The house was on the western edge of the island, and a shadow of the mainland was visible off to the left, with open ocean in front of them.</p><p>“I have to be on location tonight, and all day tomorrow, and the day after that...but then I'll be free!” Bolin hopped off the boat and onto the wood of the dock, then held out a hand for Kira, who scrambled towards him. Her eyes were shining with delight at their arrival. Out of consideration for their traveling companions and close quarters, they had refrained from touching one another overly much through the overnight trip, and his hand steadying her elbow sent a thrill through her. She grasped his forearm and let him pull her close to him, and it made her smile. He was hardly even conscious of his appeal, how he made her heart beat faster, how he made her want him. Bolin was too busy offering his other hand to Mako, helping him onto the dock on his other side. Korra hopped over with a bit of airbending and then helped Asami over.</p><p>The group walked up the slowly sloping incline, paved with worn old bricks, to the house. It was much less ostentatious than Bolin had expected it to be, and more modern than as well. But he had other things on his mind.</p><p>“Where's our room?” he asked casually, leaning on the kitchen counter as if he just wanted a tour.</p><p>“Oh, we're in the front room over on the ground floor here. The rest of the rooms are upstairs. It's, um, quieter up there. Our room has the private tub.” Her smile didn't conceal the fact that she was thinking the same thing as him.</p><p>Unfortunately, Bolin had to go to work and they wouldn't have time to properly make use of the tub and room, but he promised that as soon as filming was done they would have plenty of time together, including a night at the carnival and a ride on the ferris wheel. “Don't go without me!” Bolin made his brother and friends promise, and he was off.</p><p>The days were pleasant even without Bolin. Kira hadn't been at her family's beach house in several years, since she was a teenager and her brother closest in age had still lived at home. It had been renovated since then, but the bones were the same and there were memories spread throughout. During the day the girls laid out at the beach, and occasionally played volleyball on the net the servants set out at Kira's request—there were only two, a cook and a housekeeper, pleasant older women who lived on the Island and came by each day to do their work, paid for by Kira's father of course. The food was good, if a bit spicy for Korra. And at night, Bolin returned, tired but cheerful. They put the privacy of their room and the deep, sunken and geothermally heated tub to good use as well.</p><p>On the last day of filming, when Bolin was finally done with work and could celebrate properly, they all went to the carnival. It was on the far side of the island from Kira's family's beach house, and like a small town all it's own, spread out on a boardwalk that looked out over the ocean. Twilight sparkled down on the glowing lanterns interspersed with electric lights, rustic mixed with modern, and flooded with holiday-goers, pretty much entirely Fire Nation families. Shops and restaurants lined the island side of the boardwalk, and games and rides and booths selling trinkets lined the other. Kira had been before of course, but everyone else oohed and aahed at the lights and the display. They ate, and played (Korra and Mako took turns winning at the pro-bending simulator, until they were thrown out.) and had fun. Finally, Bolin jumped up and down in excitement and pointed at the largest attraction, one for which Ember Island was known to have the only one in the world. “Can we go on the ferris wheel? Please please please?” The ferris wheel was an amazing feat of engineering, made possible by the metallurgy and electrical advancements of the past several decades. Kira had been on it before, but none of the others had.</p><p>“It's kind of scary,” Kira warned them. “They stop you at the top and let you look out at the ocean and the festival below, but it doesn't feel like being in an airship...you feel like you're dangling up there on nothing.” She shivered.</p><p>“Sounds fun!” Korra said with a smile. “Come on Asami!” She pulled her girlfriend by the hand. Asami grumbled about wishing it was made by Future Industries instead, but followed along, good natured about Korra's excitement as usual.</p><p>“I'm out,” Mako said “I'll see you later.”</p><p>“Oh come on Mako, please come with us!” Bolin pleaded. “We can sit three in across if we have too...” Bolin trailed off as Mako continued to look pointedly at his little brother, his arms crossed.</p><p>“Do you really want me there, sitting between you and Kira, at the top of the Ferris Wheel?” His voice was low, and Kira saw his eyes dart to Bolin's pocket. Bolin gulped.</p><p>“No. Nope. You go. Go do...something. I guess. Are you sure you won't be lonely?”</p><p>“I'll be fine.” Mako said. “I'm the big brother, remember?” He put a hand on Bolin's shoulder. “Good luck.”</p><p><br/>Bolin took a deep breath and stood up straight. He smiled at Mako and clasped his brothers arm tightly. “Thanks.”</p><p>Kira stood by and watched in confused fascination. “What the heck is going on?” she asked.</p><p>“Nothing, nothing, just brother stuff!” Bolin said. He turned from Mako and ushered Kira up the steps and towards the line for the ferris wheel as Mako disappeared back into the crowd. She knew that something was up, but she couldn't figure out what.</p><p>“Is Mako up to something?” Kira asked. “Is he okay?” She often felt bad for him the only unattached party in the group, though he put up with it pretty stoically most of the time.</p><p>“Who Mako? Yeah he's fine,” Bolin said, but he seemed distracted. They boarded their little pod, a metal bench seat surrounded by bars like a cage, presumably to keep them from falling out, and sat together. In a few moments there was a disconcerting creak of metal, and the wheel began to turn. It only went up a half circle or so, allowing for more passengers to board, but already they were at least fifty feet up in the air. Kira's hand gripped Bolin's tightly, her other arm wrapped tightly around his waist. She remembered it being terrifying as a little kid, especially when her brothers would rock the pod on purpose to scare her and try to make her throw up. Now, it was merely disconcerting, and Bolin, thankfully, did not rock the pod at all. She searched Bolin's face to see how he was feeling and was surprised to find that he seemed...nervous. For someone who had ridden on a flying bison and fought alongside the Avatar, it was surprising that a ferris wheel would make him anxious, especially since he had been so eager to ride it.</p><p>“Bolin, are you alright?” Kira asked. She raised her hand and touched the furrow between his brows, and imitated the little pout of his lip. </p><p>“What? Yeah! I'm great! This is great!” He smiled broadly, but it didn't track for Kira. Something was definitely off.</p><p>The wheel moved again, and this time they were three quarters of the way to the top. Bolin breathed out a big sigh.</p><p>“Ooh, look you can see the glowing crater in the volcano from here,” Kira pointed out the middle mountain in the chain that made up Ember Island, and sure enough, there was the faint glow shining out of the center, like a warm fire up on the ridge. “I always used to have nightmares that it would erupt while I was in bed at our beach house, and we'd all be swept away in a river of lava.” She snuggled in close to Bolin. “Is it weird that I fell in love with a guy who is a lavabender?” she smiled up at him, but he still had that nervous, distracted look on his face.</p><p>“Bolin? What is wrong with you tonight? What aren't you telling me?” Kira looked around the dark air, searching for some hidden threat or danger, even though she knew that she was the last person who would probably notice something like that.</p><p>Before he could answer, the wheel moved again, putting their pod at the very top. They were probably 100 feet up in the air, and the wind off of the ocean whipped Kira's hair around her face. Beside her, Bolin sighed with relief. “Finally!” he said excitedly.</p><p>“I'm sorry if I was acting weird,” Bolin said. He shifted around a little bit to get in front of her, which set their little pod swinging. Kira lurched forward onto him and closed her eyes, her stomach churning.</p><p>“What are you doing?!” Kira asked.</p><p>“Sorry!” Bolin said. “I just—I wanted everything to be just right for this...” he fumbled with something in his pocket, and stood, working his balance to steady the pod. Once it was steady he knelt down and met Kira's exasperated gaze.</p><p>“I have something to ask you,” he said.</p><p>Suddenly his bizarre behavior clicked into place. The realization dawned on her like the sun on a field of flowers in the morning. Kira felt her eyes prickle with tears as Bolin held out a little box to her and then opened it to reveal a ring shaped from obsidian, set with three small shining topaz stones that seemed to gleam like the electric lights below.</p><p>“Kira, will you marry me?” Bolin asked. His green eyes were the most beautiful and wonderful things Kira had ever seen. She seemed to lose her breath in them for a second before she threw her arms around him.</p><p>“Oh! Yes, of course!”</p><p>“Thank goodness!” Bolin laughed with joy and relief, and when she could see his face again, it was the usual cheerful Bolin, no worry or nerves anywhere to be found. He sat back beside her and put the ring on. The band was very black and the stones were very pale, and it fit her perfectly. They kissed, then, at the top of the ferris wheel, just before it jolted and turned them another half way down the other side. Kira's heart felt so full and happy that she could hardly stand it, and tears streamed down her face.</p><p>“Kira! What's wrong?” Bolin asked when he felt her wet cheek against his.</p><p>“No, I'm <em>happy</em> crying,” Kira said. “I keep imagining spending the rest of my life with you and it feels so <em>right</em>.” She wiped her tears and sniffed. “I thought you would be the one to cry, honestly.”</p><p>“Yeah me too. I was so nervous that something would go wrong again...like maybe we wouldn't stop right at the top, or I'd drop the ring, or one of us would get motion sick and puke, or--”</p><p>“Bolin” Kira interrupted him. “Stop talking and kiss me.”</p><p>They kissed all the way down.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>Korra and Asami met them at the bottom, clambering off their pod red-faced and excited. When they saw the looks on Kira and Bolin's faces, they jumped up and down, Asami squeaking and Korra hollering.</p><p>“You did it then, Bolin?” Korra slapped her friend on the back. “Congratulations!”</p><p>“Let me see the ring he made,” Asami said.</p><p>Kira held out her hand for Asami, but looked at curiously at Bolin, “You made this?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Bolin admitted. “It's kinda the popular thing right now, to make a ring for your betrothed. Korra helped me fine tune liquifying the rock and polishing it down, and cutting the gems with earthbending. Do you like it?”</p><p>“Oh of course I do! But you didn't have to get me anything,” Kira said. “All I want from you is to spend every day together. And every night together. And have your babies.” She melted into him for another kiss, and Korra and Asami hollered again, making people stare at them curiously, but not in an embarrassing, what-the-hell-is-going-on way that team Avatar usually got.</p><p>They headed back to the beach house to celebrate, first all together, and then, finally, alone.</p><p> </p><p>* * *</p><p> </p><p>The moon was small and high up in the sky, out over the water. The mountain behind them blotted out the stars, cloaking the island in darkness, and most of the light was from the stars and their reflections on the ocean. Kira and Bolin sat on a towel in the sand side by side, holding hands, long after their friends had either gone to bed (Mako) or fallen asleep on the couch (Korra) or gone to shower and clean up (Asami).</p><p>Kira rested her head on Bolin's shoulder, her fingers tracing the line of his arm from his wrist to his elbow. There were scrapes and scars all along his skin, physical souvenirs of his life on the streets, and of countless pro-bending matches, and some real fights alongside Korra and the others. She was amazed that he could come out of all those experiences as optimistic and cheerful as he was. Kira supposed they both had Mako to thank for that.</p><p>“I'm so happy,” Bolin sighed contentedly. He smiled down at her, his green eyes dark for once in the night. The breeze off the ocean tousled his hair, making him look more rakish then his usual put-together self. But no matter how he looked, he was still her sweet Bolin, funny and selfless and stubborn.<br/><br/>“I'm glad,” Kira said. “Because I'm happy too. And I want you to be happy, always.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head up towards him, and he obliged her with a kiss. His hand cupped her cheek, then moved her hair aside and caressed down her neck and shoulder, down to her ribs and then curling behind her back to pull her in even closer. She was in her swim suit, but then, after a moment, she was out of it.</p><p>“I never get tired of this,” Bolin murmured as his kisses followed the trail his hand had taken—neck, shoulder, rib. Kira leaned back until she was laying on her back on the towel in the sand so that he could kiss her breasts, her eyes on the moon, perfectly relaxed beneath him. She could feel that prickle of heat in her groin, the urge to continue, the need for more. His erection pressed against her leg through his pants and that made her happy as well. He wanted her, and not anyone else. Kira might not be particularly jealous, but it was because she knew him and trusted him that she was able to completely shed something as shallow as jealousy. Bolin belonged to her, and she to him. A ring, a wedding—those were for everyone else to see what they both already knew.</p><p>The crashing of the waves at their feet hid the sounds they made, the soft groans and sighs. Bolin's mouth moved back to hers, and they pulled off his pants, and then he was inside her, surging into her like the ocean, her legs tight around his waist. Neither of them worried about protection, or being seen. This was their moment, their night. His thrusts were slow, delicious and agonizing and raw, until Kira's breathing was ragged and desperate. Bolin's self control had improved drastically over the past year, however, and he was determined to draw it out until she had finished.</p><p>“Please Bolin, <em>please</em>,” Kira begged him with her arms around his shoulders and her mouth next to his ear. Her hips bucked in concert with his thrusts, her eyes were closed tight and lights were bursting in her head. She was like a tree full of leaves, and each thrust was a gust of wind stripping the leaves away, leaving bare feelings and raw nerves, the roots digging deep into the earth.</p><p>Kira gasped and clenched her thighs around him, the last leaf of the tree finally flying away in the wind of her orgasm, and she shouted into the night air, letting herself be as loud and wanton as she needed to be. Bolin's arms shook with the trembling need of fulfillment, his thrusts quick and deep, now that she had come. Her arms stroked his back and she sobbed his name against his neck, and suddenly he was there with her, in her, his seed spilling inside her, pulsing in time with the pounding of his heart. When he was spent he lingered, filling her up, holding her, his eyes brimming with tears from the pleasure, from the feelings, from the intense closeness he felt. After a minute he slowly lowered himself down and withdrew, and lay beside her, partly on the towel but mostly on the still-warm sand. He still felt trembly and vulnerable, and from the way Kira had her head buried in his chest and her hands were still clutching his shoulders, she was too.</p><p>“I...finished inside you,” Bolin said. “I'm sorry,”</p><p>Kira laughed shakily. “Don't apologize. It was...what we needed, tonight. It goes with a love like ours.” She pressed her whole naked body against his, her skin pale and shining even in the darkness. They fit together perfectly, as if they were made for each other.</p><p>“Yeah,” Bolin breathed. “Whatever happens, this was worth it. Our love is worth it. Even though I have sand in my butt now.”</p><p>Kira laughed and kissed him softly, gently, lovingly. “I have sand in my butt too.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wow, thanks for making it to the end! This was a ride, I know, and kinda all over the place with a ton of pointless smut, but I am so happy to have written it and I'm happy with how it turned out, full circle from their meetcute to their engagement, beach to beach. </p><p>Honestly, this fic brought me back to writing after a 2 year hiatus due to some life and health concerns and writing it was an absolute joy. It has brought be the confidence to do Nanowrimo again this year and made me remember why I love writing. So thanks Bolin, Kira, and the Krew, AO3, and everyone who made it this far! &lt;3</p>
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